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THE  RICE  MILLS  OF  PORT  MYSTERY 


THE 


RICE    MILLS 


OF 


PORT  MYSTERY 


B.  F.  HEUSTON 


SECOND    EDITION 


CHICAGO 
CHARLES  H.  KERR  &  COMPANY 

1892 


Copyright  1891,  By  B.  F.  Heuston 


W.     B.     CONKCY     COMPANY 

CHICAGO 
PRINTERS     ANO     BINDERS 


R0K 


CONTENTS 


I. — Physical  Character  of  the  Pacific  Northwest.       7 

II.— Early  History 18 

III. — The  Mysterious  Northwest  Passage 27 

IV.  —The  First  Period  of  Rapid  Growth 38 

V. — The  Mechanical  Age 47 

VI. — The  Chemical  Age 57 

VII.— The  Rice  Mills 66 

VIII.— The  First  Great  Industrial  Conflict 73 

IX.— The  Inland  Empire 84 

X. — The  Second  Period  of  Rapid  Growth 90 

XI.— The  Great  Affliction , 95 

XII.— The  Will 102 

XIII. — The  Mysteries  of  Port  Mystery 106 

XIV.— The  Rice  Mills  Found 115 

XV.— The  Last  Industrial  Conflict 120 

XVI. — What  Determines  Wages 127 

XVII. — Money 140 

XVIII.— More  Record 148 

XIX. — Lemon  Culture  in  Washington 159 

XX. — The  Rest  of  the  Record 173 

XXI. — The  Era  of  Greatest  Progress 184 

XXII. — The  Monument  of  Progress. 194 


THE   RICE  MILLS 

OF  PORT  MYSTERY 
CHAPTER  I 

PHYSICAL    CHARACTER  OF  THe  PACIFIC    NORTHWEST 

The  largest,  densest,  darkest  forests  ever 
known  to  man,  the  wide  world  round,  extended 
over  the  northwestern  corner  of  the  United 
States  even  up  to  the  latter  part  of  the  Nine- 
teenth century.  It  was  such  a  luxuriance  of 
vegetable  growth  as  might  have  done  credit  to 
the  old  Carboniferous  age.  Great  trees,  30, 
40  and  50  feet  in  circumference,  covered  the 
entire  surface  of  the  land,  (as  near  as  circles 
can  cover  surface).  From  their  foundations, 
deep,  strong  and  firmly  interlaced,  abutting 
and  supporting  one  another,  they  rose,  three 
and  four  hundred  feet,  so  tall  and  straight  that, 
being  severed  at  the  ground,  they  would  not 
fall,  and  tapering  so  gradually  and  regularly 
that,  looking  up  from  below,  it  seemed  but  the 
perspective ;  and  at   the    top    again   spread   to 


8  THE    RICE    MILLS 

form  a  second  covering  with  their  leaves  and 
branches ;  while  in  the  space  between  grew 
vines  and  underbrush,  and  on  the  great  wet 
trunks,  and  on  the  vines  and  underbrush,  grew 
heavy  moss,  and    on  this  moss,  more  moss. 

It  was  apparent  from  the  very  first  that  a 
soil  which  bore  such  giant  trees,  must  be  very 
productive,  but  how  to  prove  it  was  a  conun- 
drum. The  trees  could  be  cut  down,  to  be  sure, 
but  they  would  only  cover  the  soil  the  more 
completely.  Nevertheless,  the  ingenuity  of  man 
vfas  sufficient  to  conquer  these  giants  and  turn 
them  to  his  advantage,  as  it  has  so  many  other 
forces  in  these  later  days. 

The  similarity  of  the  climate  of  this  country 
to  that  of  western  Europe,  was  early  noticed. 
The  Pacific  Coast  had  its  Italy,  its  Spain,  its 
France,  its  England,  its  Germany,  and  its  Land 
of  the  Midnight  Sun.  This  variety  of  climate 
extended  along  the  shore  of  the  ocean  as  great 
a  distance,  and  included  as  large  a  tract  of 
country,  as  Europe's  populous  western  shore. 
But  the  same  application  of  labor  to  the  earth 
was  soon  found  to  be  rewarded  by  much  greater 
returns  than  even  the  best  of  Europe.  No  other 
country  ever  grew  such  vines,  such  fruit  of 
every  variety,  such  grain,  such  vegetables,  and 
in  fine,  whatever  man  could  wish.  For,  as  the 
virgin  forests  exceeded  those  of  other  lands,  so 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  9 

its  fruitage,  under  cultivation,  and  so  its  power 
to  support  population — all  in  conformity  with 
nature's  known  laws ;  for  vegetable  growth  is 
composed  mainly  of  Carbon,  Hydrogen, 
Nitrogen  and  Oxygen,  elements  which  are 
supplied  from  the  atmosphere  as  much  as  from 
the  soil.  And  the  air,  coming  full  and  pure 
off  the  plantless  expanse  of  two-fifths  of  the 
earth's  surface,  builds  up  vegetable  life 
marvelously. 

To  make  sure  that  this  favored  strip  gets  the 
full  benefit  of  this,  a  mighty  wall  of  earth 
bounds  it  at  the  proper  distance  from  the  sea, 
and  midway  between,  to  give  variety  of  climate, 
is  placed  a  lesser  wall  on  which  stand  mighty 
sentinels  at  regular  intervals.  The  day  was 
when  these  sentinels  bore  torches  lighting  up 
the  whole  coast  from  the  torrid  to  the  frigid 
zone,  brilliant  enough  to  guide  by  night  vessels 
hundreds  of  miles  at  sea.  But  no  commerce 
was  ever  so  guided,  for,  because  of  man's  pro- 
crastination in  making  use  of  them,  or  his 
precociousness  in  inventing  a  substitute,  these 
lights  were  extinguished  long  before  vessels 
visited  this  shore,  of  which  we  have  any 
record. 

Had  our  Aryan  ancestors,  when  they  left 
their  first  home  at  the  foot  of  great  Mount 
Everest  in  search  of  the  final  metropolis  of  the 


10  THE    RICE    MILLS 

world,  traveled  east  instead  of  west,  under 
nature's  guidance,  they  would  have  sailed  on 
the  tide  through  the  open  portals  over  which 
Olympus  stands  guard,  and  directly  through 
the  myriad-harbored  Sound  to  the  base  of  the 
greatest,  brightest,  highest  of  all  that  galaxy 
of  lights,  old  Mount  Tacoma,and  there  landing, 
would  have  built  that  metropolis  which  only 
after  ages  and  ages  of  wandering  about  the 
world  they  have  now  established.  And  what  a 
fitting  monument  to  mark  this  precious  spot  is 
Mount  Tacoma!  Beginning  at  the  water's 
edge,  it  rises  by  hills,  foothills,  mountains  and 
great  mountains  to  Great  Mount  Tacoma, 
more  than  two  and  three  quarters  miles  per- 
pendicular height  above  the  tide — not  peaked 
and  pretty,  but  full,  broad,  massive,  rugged, 
ponderous  to  the  fulness  of  gratification. 
Another  mile  might  have  been  added  to  its 
height  without  destroying  its  shapely  propor- 
tions. At  first  sight,  it  does  not  seem  so 
wonderful,  but  however  often  afterward  looked 
upon,  each  time  it  grows  mightier.  Solitary 
and  alone  it  stands  ;  for  the  adjacent  Cascade 
range  on  either  side,  though  mighty  by  them- 
selves or  elsewhere,  are  not  half  its  height,  and 
only  serve  to  make  it  look  more  sublime.  But 
grand  as  may  be  the  sight  from  below,  it  is 
literally      incomparable    to    the     ecstasy      of 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  II 

sublimity  of  the  prospect  from  the  mountain 
top.  Beginning  at  your  feet  and  then  gradu- 
ally broadening  the  view  as  you  look  down, 
down,  down,  it  seems  as  if  the  world  were  pass- 
ing out  from  under  you  or  that  you  were  being 
transported  into  the  skies — in  a  dream.  When 
you  have  regained  composure,  what  a  rich 
prospect  is  in  store !  You  are  standing  away 
above  other  mountains,  above  everything.  The 
Cascade  range  seems  but  a  furrow  separating 
the  east  and  the  west  field  of  view.  Toward 
the  east  may  be  seen  the  outlines  of  the  Blue 
Mountains,  and  lying  between  is  the  fair  valley 
of  the  Columbia,  the  Inland  Empire,  with  its 
rich  carpet  of  vegetation,  checkered  and  varie- 
gated in  the  foreground,  but  all  blended  into 
a  grayish  green  as  it  stretches  further  and 
further  away,  now  lost  behind  itself,  then  re- 
appearing on  the  summits  of  the  Blue  Mountains 
and  then  again  disappearing  forever. 

Throughout  this  whole  expanse  is  the  great 
Columbia  to  be  seen,  winding  its  serpentine 
form  here  and  there,  as  if  intent  upon  supply- 
ing the  means  of  irrigating  the  entire  region. 
One  has  only  to  glance  at  its  sinuous  course, 
its  many  branches,  its  narrow  escape  through 
the  mountains  and  the  topography  of  the  whole 
valley,  to  be  amazed  at  the  fulness  and  exact- 
ness of  the  Creator's  design  (or  if  not  designed, 


12  THE    RICE    MILLS 

the  more  amazed)  and  the  faithfulness  with 
which  man  has  executed  it,  in  the  reduction  of 
this  country  to  its  wonderful  productiveness. 

Turning  now  to  the  west  and  the  scene  is,  if 
possible,  even  more  entrancing.  The  view  is 
inclosed  by  the  Coast  Mountains  of  Oregon  on 
the  south,  the  endless  expanse  of  the  Pacific  on 
the  west,  and  the  mountains  of  British  Columbia 
on  the  north,  comprising  "Western  Washing- 
ton. "  Here  are  its  countless  orchards  and 
gardens,  cities  and  villages,  with  Puget  Sound 
reaching  its  numerous  arms  into  every  nook 
and  corner  of  the  land.  And  everywhere  are  all 
the  wonderful  ministers  of  commerce  gliding 
over  the  land  and  water  like  living  animals 
trained  to  do  man's  bidding. 

Although  the  summit  of  the  mountain  is 
rather  like  a  large  triangular  plateau,  there 
are  three  principal  elevations  or  peaks,  varying 
somewhat  in  altitude,  one  at  either  corner  of 
the  triangle,  and  each  distant  about  a  mile 
from  the  others.  Between  these  peaks  are 
broad  valleys  in  which  have  fallen,  the  whole 
year  around,  the  snows  of  ages.  Not  only  does 
it  snow  here  when  it  snows  or  rains  below,  but 
also  when  it  neither  snows  nor  rains  anywhere 
else ;  for,  as  the  winds  come  over  the  broad 
ocean,  they  become  more  or  less  saturated  with 
moisture.     When  they    strike    the    mountains, 


OF   PORT   MYSTERY  1 3 

they  are  deflected  upward,  become  cooler  and 
less  able  to  hold  it ;  and  the  air  is  dry  indeed 
that  is  not  forced  to  give  up  part  of  its  load 
before  it  clears  the  summit.  On  this  account 
is  the  mountain  enveloped  in  a  cloud  whenever 
the  wind  blows  over  it  from  the  west. 

These  vast  accumulations  of  snow  and  ice 
tumble  from  the  crags  in  thundering  avalanches 
into  the  valleys  and  gorges,  down  which  they 
flow  as  gradually  and  incessantly  as  they 
accumulate,  moving  but  a  score  of  feet  a  year, 
but  tearing  away  rocks  and  crags  which  would 
obstruct  their  course,  perfectly  irresistible, 
cracking  and  rumbling  like  the  battle  of  mighty 
hosts,  to  a  lower  and  warmer  region,  where 
they  break  forth  from  strict  confinement  into 
some  temperate  valley  or  upon  a  sunny  slope 
and  stop,  their  power  overcome  with  mildness. 
They  dissolve,  and  the  waters,  glad  of  their 
liberty,  leap  merrily  down  the  mountain  side, 
laughing  at  the  mockery  of  power. 

The  Nisqually  glacier  is  a  huge  river  of  ice, 
ten  miles  in  length  and  five  hundred  feet  in 
thickness,  which  plows  its  way  down  the 
southern  side  of  the  mountain  to  temperate 
climes  far  below  the  snow  limit.  In  its  course 
down  the  mountain  slope,  it  flows  through  a 
beautiful  prospect  called  Paradise  Park.  Here, 
on  either  side   of    the    great    wall    of    ice,  all 


H 


THE    RICE     MILLS 


vegetable  life  flourishes  surprisingly.  There 
is  a  rich  flora,  and  the  plants  bloom  continually 
during  the  summer.  All  sorts  of  wild  berries 
grow  abundantly  to  this  day,  for  man  has  never 
presumed  to  improve  on  nature  here.  The 
view  from  the  Park  is  grand  in  the  extreme. 
The  air  is  always  fresh,  flowing  and  exhilarat- 
ing. This  effect,  added  to  the  prospect,  makes 
the  lovely  slope  very  inspiring,  and  causes  it 
to  be  constantly  thronged  by  visitors  from  the 
business  centers  of  the  Sound,  and  by  tourists 
from  all  parts  of  the  world. 

The  Nisqually  river  bursts  forth  full  grown 
from  beneath  this  glacier,  and,  after  such 
sprightliness  as  may  be  pardoned  on  its  sud- 
den release  after  ages  of  restraint,  assumes  the 
majesty  of  a  noble  river.  In  its  short  course 
from  the  glacier  to  the  sea,  this  river  has  three 
tides,two  at  its  head  and  one  at  its  foot.  The 
latter  is  ascribed  to  the  moon's  influence  on 
the  ocean.  The  two  at  its  head  are  due  to  the 
influence  of  the  sun  on  the  glacier;  for,  in  the 
winter,  when  the  sun  looks  side-wise  at  the 
mountain,  it  is  out  almost  entirely,  while  in 
the  summer,  it  flows  strongly.  But  its  diurnal 
tide,  because  of  the  suddenness  of  its  ebb  and 
flow,  is  even  more  marked.  The  river  that,  at 
sunrise,  is  six  or  eight  inches  deep,  its  water 
dodging  leisurely  around  the   boulders    in    the 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  15 

bed  of  the  river  and  jumping  lightly  over  the 
precipices,  at  sundown  is  a  raging  torrent 
sweeping  everything  before  it. 

But  the  harbor  of  Puget  Sound  was  even 
greater,  in  the  industrial  topography  of  the 
world,  than  Mount  Tacoma  in  the  geographical. 
Who  could  not  foresee  that  this  great  harbor 
with  its  2000  miles  of  excellent  water  front  all 
within  70  miles  of  a  common  central  point, 
securely  locked  from  the  open  sea,  free  from 
rocks  and  shoals,  storms  and  ice,  extreme  heat 
and  extreme  cold,  off  from  the  largest  body  of 
water  in  the  world  and  within  the  territory  of 
the  strongest  nation,  industrially — who  could 
not  foresee  that  just  this  harbor  would  be  the 
center  of  the  industrial  world?  The  Golden 
Gate,  the  entrance  at  once  to  both  Spain  and 
Italy-California, was  the  way  to  the  land  which 
more  nearly  answered  the  fancies  of  man  in 
former  times.  There,  in  that  land  of  bright 
sunny  skies,  were  fields  producing  the  neces- 
sities of  life  in  abundance  with  orchards,  vine- 
yards and  gardens  growing  all  the  delicacies 
of  the  appetite.  There  was  a  mild  and  equable 
climate  and  healthful  influence,  and  right  there, 
too,  was  hidden  treasure  in  fabulous  store. 
Hundreds  of  millions  of  precious  metal  were 
brought  forth,  and  many  realized  the  dream 
harbored  by  the  fanciful  in  all  ages  of    absolu- 


l6  THE    RICE    MILLS 

tion  from  further  toil  and  care,  of  golden  palaces 
of  indescribable  splendor  and  of  all  the  luxuries 
that  wealth  could  bring.  But  golden  palaces 
mean  strong  guards,  numerous  trains  of  #attend- 
ants  and  servants, the  masses  toiling  to  produce 
not  only  the  necessities  of  their  own  existence, 
but  also  the  necessities,  luxuries  and  magnifi- 
cence of  the  rich,  their  guards,  attendants, 
servants  and  followers,  all  of  whom  of  course 
produce  neither  the  delicacies  they  consume, 
the  magnificence  they  enjoy  nor  the  gold  they 
give  in  exchange.  In  fine,  such  visions  of 
riches  were  extremely  selfish.  The  coveted 
treasure  was  merely  the  means  of  shifting,  not 
lifting,  men's  burdens.  What  of  leisure,  inde- 
pendence and  privilege  the  few  enjoyed  was  at 
the  expense  of  counterbalancing  toil  and  sub- 
jection of  the  masses.  The  mean  of  human 
happiness  was  not  raised.  There  was  no 
progress. 

But  the  portals  of  Puget  Sound  open  upon  a 
vision  fairer  by  far  than  any  ancient  dream  of 
boundless  splendor.  The  forces  of  nature  are 
here  bent  to  serve  humanity.  It  is  not  that 
another  shall  do  my  work,  but  that  the  objects 
which  satisfy  my  desires  are  secured  with  very 
little  work  on  jthe  part  of  anybody ;  and  the 
mean  of  human  happiness  has  attained  a  noble 
height.     The  progress  hence  was    not    miracu- 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  17 

lous,  but  natural  and  simple,  the  principle  on 
which  the  world  has  ever  progressed,  namely, 
finding  out  and  applying  every  means  of  secur- 
ing things  with  the  least  labor. 


j8  the  rice  mills 


CHAPTER  II 

EARLY   HISTORY 

The  discovery  of  the  New  World  by  Colum- 
bus in  1492  can  hardly  be  called  an  event  in 
the  history  of  the  Pacific  Northwest.  Never- 
theless, in  order  to  understand  the  nature  and 
purpose  of  subsequent  discoveries  within  its 
limits  and  to  derive  the  territory  from  the  very 
earliest  times,  we  must  begin,  if  not  with  that 
event,  at  least  very  soon  thereafter.  For, 
within  two  years,  we  find  the  celebrated  treaty 
of  Partition  concluded  between  Spain  and 
Portugal,  then  the  greatest  maritime  powers  of 
Europe,  founded  on  the  bull  of  Pope  Alexan- 
der VI,  agreeably  to  which  the  Spaniards  took 
that  half  of  the  world  lying  to  the  west,  and 
the  Portuguese  that  lying  to  the  east.  By  this 
partition, therefore,  we  fell  within  the  dominion 
of  Spain. 

As  the  eastern  limits  of  Asia  were  unknown, 
and  the  circumference  of  the  earth  was  supposed 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  ig 

to  be  much  less  than  it  really  is,  the  newly 
discovered  land  across  the  Atlantic  was  taken 
to  be  part  of  Asia;  and  Spain  was  elated  at 
her  prospects  of  a  shorter  route  to  India  than 
her  rival,  Portugal,  would  have  around  the 
southern  extremity  of  Africa. 

As  soon  as  these  and  other  jurisdictional 
questions  were  settled  by  the  highest  authority 
then  recognized  among  the  civilized  nations, 
each  of  the  two  nations  that  owned  the  earth 
set  diligently  about  inspecting  their  respective 
hemispheres.  While  the  Spaniards  were  vainly 
exploring  the  Atlantic  coast  of  the  new  World 
in  search  of  an  opening  through  which  they 
might  proceed  to  India,  the  Portuguese  made 
their  way  around  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and 
firmly  established  themselves  in  India.  Their 
commerce  increased  rapidly  and  became  exceed- 
ingly profitable,  to  the  great  chagrin  of  the 
Spaniards,  who,  however,  were  strictly  con- 
fined to  only  half  the  earth.  They  must  go 
past  or  through  the  New  World. 

In  1513,  Balboa,  the  Spanish  governor  of  a 
colony  on  the  Atlantic  near  the  isthmus  of 
Panama,  after  a  short  march  across  the  mount- 
ains, arrived  on  the  shores  of  the  Pacific  ocean, 
which  he  supposed  to  be  the  long  sought 
Southern  Ocean,  and  of  which  he  proceeded 
to  "take  possession"   in    the    name     of     Spain. 


20  THE    RICE    MILLS 

The  land  crossed  by  him  was  so  narrow  that 
subsequently  every  little  river  and  inlet  was 
carefully  surveyed  in  the  hope  of  finding  a 
passage  for  ships. 

In  the  meantime,  Ferdinand  Magellan,  a 
Portuguese  in  the  service  of  Spain,  discovered 
the  strait  which  bears  his  name,  in  15 19,  and, 
passing  through  it,  continued  westward  to 
India,  thus  solving  the  great  geographical 
question  of  the  possibility  of  circumnavigating 
the  globe.  But  the  Strait  of  Magellan  was  intri- 
cate and  dangerous.  Its  distance  from  Europe 
was  almost  as  great  as  India's  by  the  eastern 
route.  The  Pacific  was  far  wider  than  ever 
supposed,  and  the  wind,  throughout  the  course 
traversed,  blew  continually  from  the  east. 
Therefore,  the  Spaniards  were  quite  disheart- 
ened ;  but  discovering  and  plundering  (or  con- 
quering) Mexico,  Peru  and  Chili  about  this 
time,  did  much  to  console  them,  and  by  inter- 
esting themselves  in  the  New  World,  their 
disappointment  was  partially  overcome. 

The  enterprising  conqueror  and  governor  of 
Mexico  explored  the  whole  country  from  Mexico 
to  South  America,  together  with  both  shores, 
for  the  much  sought  for  passage,  and  then 
turned  his  attention  to  the  region  to  the  north- 
west. Various  expeditions  were  undertaken, 
and  in    1543    one    succeeded    in    following  the 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  21 

coast  north  to  about  midway  of  the  western 
coast  of  what  is  now  the  state  of  Oregon. 
Attempts  were  also  made  to  expore  the  region 
to  the  northwest  by  land.  To  avoid  the 
violence  which  military  men  would  exercise, 
if  a  nation  possessing  great  treasure  should  be 
discovered,  as  it  was  said,  and  perhaps  inciden- 
tally, in  order  that  something  might  be  left 
for  the  governor,  he  sent  two  Franciscan  friars 
and  some  Indians  on  a  tour  of  discovery.  It  is 
said  the  reverend  explorers  returned  before 
the  end  of  the  year,  bringing  accounts  of 
countries  which  they  had  visited  in  the  north- 
west, abounding  in  gold  and  precious  stones, 
and  inhabited  by  a  population  more  numerous 
and  more  civilized  than  either  Mexico  or  Peru. 
According  to  the  letter  addressed  to  the 
governor  by  one  of  the  friars,  upon  his  return, 
these  rich  and  delightful  countries  were  situated 
beyond  the  35th  degree  of  latitude,  in  the 
vicinity  of  the  sea,  and  were  separated  from 
those  previously  known  to  the  Spaniards  by 
extensive  tracts  of  forest  and  desert,  through 
which  it  would  be  necessary  to  pass  in  order  to 
reach  the  golden  region.  The  friardescribes  with 
minuteness  his  route,  as  well  as  the  situation, 
extent  and  divisions  of  the  new  countries ; 
dwelling  particularly  on  the  magnificence  and 
greatness  of  a  city  called    Cibola,    the    capital 


22  THE    RICE    MILLS 

of  a  province  of  the  same  name,  which  he 
describes  as  containing  more  than  twenty 
thousand  large  stone  houses,  all  richly  adorned 
with  gold  and  jewels.  The  people  of  this  place, 
as  the  letter  says,  were  at  first  hostile  to  the 
strangers ;  but  in  the  end  they  had  evinced  a 
disposition  to  embrace  Christianity,  and  to 
submit  to  the  authority  of  Spain,  in  conse- 
quence of  which,  the  friars  had  secretly  taken 
possession  of  the  whole  country  for  their 
sovereign,  by  setting  up  crosses  in  various 
parts.  These  and  other  things  of  the  like 
nature,  gravely  related  by  ecclesiastics  who 
professed  to  have  witnessed  what  they  described, 
were  admitted  to  be  true  by  the  governor ;  and 
he  accordingly  prepared,  without  delay,  to 
conquer  these  new  countries,  which  were  con- 
sidered to  belong  of  right  to  Spain,  as  well  as 
to  convert  their  inhabitants  to  Christianity. 

This  city  has  never  been  definitely  located, 
but  doubtless  was  not  in  the  Pacific  Northwest. 

Indeed,  the  commander  of  the  expedition  sent 
out  to  conquer  it  reported  :  "The  reverend 
father  provincial  has  told  the  truth  in  nothing 
which  he  said  respecting  kingdoms,  provinces 
and  cities,  in  this  region  ;  for  we  have  found 
all  quite  the  contrary. " 

This  conquering  expedition  went  as  far  north 
as  San  Francisco,  where  they  found  natives  wno 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  23 

told  of  ships  laden  with  rich  goods  and  adorned 
with  gilded  images,  supposed  to  be  Japanese 
vessels  such  as  have  since  visited  the  coast. 

In  1564  the  Spaniards  made  another  attempt 
to  establish  themselves  in  the  East  Indies,  and 
accordingly  a  squadron  was  sent  out  from  the 
west  coast  of  Mexico  which  subjugated  the 
Philippine  Islands  and  effected  a  highly  im- 
potant  discovery.  Until  that  period  no  one  had 
ever  crossed  the  Pacific  from  Asia  to  America, 
because  of  the  constant  east  wind  along  the 
entire  course  over  which  they  would  travel.  Part 
of  this  squadron  took  a  northeasterly  course 
to  the  North  Pacific,  then  a  southeasterly  course 
to  the  Californian  coast  about  the  fortieth 
parallel  of  latitude,  along  the  whole  of  which 
route  they  found  variable  winds;  and  from 
California,  the  prevailing  northwest  winds  soon 
carried  them  to  Mexico.  By  this  route  the 
Spaniards  at  last  gained  a  position  in  East 
India,  and  large  ships  sailed  regularly  from 
the  Pacific  ports  of  Mexico  laden  with  precious 
metals  and  European  merchandise,  and  brought 
back  the  silks  and  spices  of  the  Indies,  either 
for  consumption  in  Mexico  or  transportation  to 
Spain.  The  sea  was  comparatively  safe,  and 
as  it  was  for  many  years  free  from  all  intrusion 
on  the  part  of  other  nations,  little  care  or  cost 
was  bestowed  upon  the  defense  of    the    vessels 


24  THE    RICE    MILLS 

or  of  the  towns  on  the  coast ;  in  consequence 
of  which,  the  Spaniards  now  had  a  cheaper 
route  than  the  Portugese,  and  could  success- 
fully compete  with  them  in  the  markets  of 
Europe. 

It  was  soon  learned  by  navigators  that  the 
only  practicable  route  across  the  Pacific  was  by 
way  of  the  North  Pacific,  and  therefore  all 
commerce  necessarily  passed  the  Northwest 
coast.  So  the  Spanish  merchant's  ships  always 
set  in  toward  the  American  shore,  and  knew 
well  the  general  land-marks,  but  it  is  not  known 
that  vessels  then  fell  in  close  enough  to  become 
acquainted  with  the  coast  above  the  present 
northern  boundary  of  California. 

As  their  commerce  increased,  the  Spanish 
government  adopted  every  sort  of  restriction 
and  exclusion  in  order  to  maintain  their 
monopoly.  The  subjects  of  all  foreign  nations 
were  prohibited,  under  penalty  of  death,  from 
touching  the  Spanish  possessions  in  America 
or  from  navigating  the  Pacific  Ocean. 
Against  these  restrictions  the  other  nations 
gradually  rebelled.  Queen  Elizabeth  of 
England,  in  particular,  encouraged  her  subjects, 
openly  as  well  as  secretly,  to  violate  laws  which 
she  declared  to  be  unjustifiable  and  inhuman. 
The  Spanish  seas  were  soon  haunted  by  English 
crews,  who,  under  the  name  of  free-booters,  set 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  25 

at  defiance  the  restrictions  upon  commerce,  and 
plundered  the  Spanish  ships  and  settlements 
all  over  their  hemisphere.  The  great  western 
continent,  which  thus  far  had  so  effectually 
separated  the  Atlantic  from  the  Pacific  to  their 
great  annoyance,  came  to  be  a  bulwark  of 
defense  to  their  Pacific  ocean  commerce.  But 
the  daring  English  mariners  soon  overcame 
this  obstacle,  and  in  1578  the  first  English 
ship  appeared  upon  the  Pacific  ocean,  com- 
manded by  Francis  Drake.  He  plundered  the 
defenceless  ships  and  towns,  and  for  many 
years  his  name  was  never  mentioned  by  the 
Spaniards  of  the  Pacific  without  exciting  a 
feeling  of  horror.  Drake  passed  several  weeks 
in  a  harbor  on  the  Californian  coast,  probably 
San  Francisco  bay,  repairing  his  ship  and  pre- 
paring for  the  long  voyage  across  the  Pacific. 
Here  he  was  entreated  b}'  the  savages  to  be- 
come their  king,  and,  as  he  says,  he  "thought 
meet  not  to  reject  the  crown  ;  because  he  knew 
not  what  honor  and  profit  it  might  bring  to  his 
own  country.  Wherefore  in  the  name  and  to 
the  use  of  her  Majesty,  Queen  Elizabeth,  he 
took  the  sceptre,  crown  and  dignity  of  the 
country  into  his  hands;  wishing  that  the  riches 
and  treasures  thereof  might  so  conveniently  be 
transported  for  the  enriching  of  her  kingdom 
at  home."     He  was  accordingly  crowned    with 


26  THE    RICE    MILLS 

ceremony.  He  called  the  country  New  Albion 
and  erected  a  monument  on  the  shore  of  the 
bay  with  an  inscription  commemorating  the 
transfer.  Drake  did  not  follow  the  coast  further 
north  than  midway  of  the  western  coast  of  the 
present  state  of  Oregon. 

The  success  of  Drake's  adventure  caused 
other  English  navigators  to  undertake  similar 
voyages.  Thomas  Cavendish  made  his  name 
almost  as  terrible  to  the  Spaniards,  and  in  the 
same  way.  The  English  now  desired  a  short 
cut  to  the  Pacific,  and  according^  took  up  the 
search  which  was  dropped  by  the  Spaniards 
many  years  before.  It  was  by  this  time  pretty 
well  demonstrated  that  if  such  a  passage  existed, 
it  must  be  well  to  the  north.  During  the 
sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  there  were 
many  rumors  of  the  discovery  of  the  northwest 
passage,  generally  called  the  strait  of  Anian  ; 
and  not  a  few  mariners  claimed  to  have  passed 
from  one  ocean  to  the  other,  and  gave  detailed 
accounts  of  their  voyages,  one  of  which  will  be 
here  noticed. 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY 


CHAPTER  III 

THE   MYSTERIOUS   NORTHWEST   PASSAGE 

In  1596  an  English  merchant,  named  Lock, 
met  at  Venice  an  ancient  Greek, calling  himself 
Valerianos,  who  stated  that  he  had  been  a 
mariner  in  the  Spanish  service  for  more  than 
forty  years  under  the  name  of  Juan    de    Fuca. 

That  in  1592  (the  first  centennial  of  the  dis- 
covery of  America)  he  acted  as  pilot  in  a  voy- 
age made  by  order  of  the  Viceroy  of  Mexico 
in  search  of  "the  Straights  of  Anain,  and  the 
passage  thereof  into  the  North  sea."  That  he 
started  from  Mexico,  followed  his  course  west 
and  northwest  along  the  coast  of  Mexico  and 
California  as  far  as  the  47th  degree  of  latitude, 
between  which  parallel  and  the  48th, he  entered 
a  "broad  inlet  of  the  sea,  and,  sailing  therein 
more  than  twenty  days,  he  found  the  land 
trending  sometimes  northwest  and  northeast, 
and  north,  and  also  east  and  southeast,  and 
very     much     broader    sea     than    was   at    the 


28  THE    RICE    MILLS 

entrance ;  and  he  passed  by  divers  islands  in 
that  sailing  ;  and  that  at  the  entrance  of  this 
strait  there  is,  on  the  northwest  coast  thereof, 
a  great  headland,  or  island,  with  an  exceeding 
high  pinnacle,  or  spired  rock,  like  a  pillar, 
thereupon  ;  also  he  said  that  he  went  on  land 
in  divers  places,  and  that  he  saw  some  people 
on  land  clad  in  beasts'  skins ;  and  that  the 
land  is  very  fruitful  and  rich  of  gold,  silver, 
pearls  and  other  things  like  Nova  Spania.  And 
also  he  said  that  being  entered  thus  far  into 
the  said  strait,  and  being  come  into  the  North 
sea  (the  Atlantic)  already,  and  finding  the  sea 
wide  enough  everywhere,  it  being  about  thirty 
or  forty  leagues  broad  at  the  mouth  of  the 
straits,  where  he  entered,  he  thought  he  had 
well  discharged  his  office,  and,  not  being  armed 
to  resist  savages,  he  set  sail,  and  returned 
homeward  again  to  Acapulco. " 

This  narration  has  been  subject  to  wonderful 
vicissitudes  in  subsequent  times.  Sometimes 
it  was  implicitly  believed  ;  sometimes  it  was 
doubted  whether  any  such  a  man  ever  lived. 
It  is,  however,  probable  that  such  a  man  entered 
the  strait  that  bears  his  name,  followed  what 
is  known  as  the  "inland  passage"  to  Alaska, 
nearly  to  Mount  St.  Elias,  and  again  came  out 
into  the  Pacific  ocean.  Many  think  he  believed 
he  had  come  into  the  Atlantic  ;  but  he  probably 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY 


29 


knew  better,  though  one  who  has  made  this 
voyage  is  quite  likely  not  to  know  where  he  is 
when  he  reaches  the  end,  except  he  is  told. 

For  two  centuries  after  this,  the  Pacific 
Northwest  continued  to  be  the  corner  of  the 
earth  with  which  men  were  least  acquainted. 
It  became  the  favorite  field  for  the  wonders 
and  mysteries  of  the  world  of  fancy.  Bacon  laid 
the  scene  of  his  Atlantis  here.  Brobdignag, 
according  to  the  very  exact  account  of  its  dis- 
coverer, Captain  Lemuel  Gulliver,  was  situated 
immediately  north  of  the  Strait  of  Fuca.  And 
even  Utopia  (Nowhere)  seems  to  have  been 
in  this  region. 

During  the  last  few  years  of  the  third  century 
after  the  discovery  of  America,  the  Pacific 
Northwest  was  touched  by  voyagers  from  many 
of  the  European  nations,  some  of  whom 
observed,  and  even  entered  a  short  distance 
into  the  Strait  of  Fuca. 

Captain  Jonathan  Carver,  who  made  a  trip 
to  the  country  west  of  the  great  lakes  of  North 
America,  in  1766,  summing  up  the  information 
he  had  obtained,  gives  account  of  the  "heads 
of  four  great  rivers  that  take  their  rise  within  a 
few  leagues  of  each  other,  nearly  about  the 
centre  of  the  great  continent,  viz.  :  the  river 
Bourbon,  (Red  River  of  the  North,)  which 
empties  itself  into    Hudson    Bay;  the    watere 


30  THE    RICE    MILLS 

of  the  St.  Lawrence;  the  Mississippi;  and  the 
river  Oregon,  or  river  of  the  West,  that  falls 
into  the  Pacific  at  the  Strait  of  Anian."  Carver 
says  nothing  about  the  meaning  of  the  word 
Oregon,  and  nothing  satisfactory  is  known 
about  it.  Indeed  it  seems  to  have  been  inven- 
ted by  Carver  himself.  He  must  have  learned 
of  the  river  from  the  Indians,  but  was  misin- 
formed of  its  location,  supposing  it  to  have  its 
rise  near  the  head  of  the  Mississippi  and  Red 
River. 

In  1778  the  celebrated  English  Navigator, 
Captain  Cook,  reached  the  Northwest  shore 
about  a  hundred  miles  north  of  Cape  Mendocino, 
and  proceeded  north  along  the  coast,  passing 
the  mouth  of  the  Columbia  without  noticing  it 
during  a  stormy  night.  Finally  the  winds, 
which  had  given  him  much  trouble,  became 
more  favorable,  and,  proceeding  along  the 
coast,  he  came  to  a  projecting  point  which,  in 
token  of  his  improved  prospects,  he  named  Cape 
Flattery.  He  searched  diligently  between  the 
47th  and  48th  degrees  of  latitude  for  the  strait 
through  which  Juan  de  Fuca  was  said  to  have 
sailed  from  the  Pacific  to  the  Atlantic  in  1*592  ; 
but  finding  that  the  coast  extended  unbroken 
across  that  distance,  he  decided  that  no  such 
passage  existed.  Had  he  searched  between 
48  and  49  degrees,  he    might    have    found    an 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  31 

arm  of  the  ocean  apparently  penetrating  the 
continent,  through  which  he  might  have  sailed 
for  days  without  being  assured  that  the  story 
of  Juan  de  Fuca  was  incorrect.  However,  he 
did  not  observe  the  strait,  and  passed  on  to 
the  north. 

In  1787,  Captain  Berkley,  sailing  under  the 
Austrian  flag,  entered  a  short  distance  into  an 
arm  of  the  sea  which  corresponded  almost 
exactly  with  that  through  which  Juan  de  Fuca 
claimed  to  have  sailed  into  the  Altantic  ;  where- 
upon he  immediately  named  it  the  Strait  of 
Fuca.  Next  year  John  Meares,  an  Englishman, 
sailed  south  along  the  coast  in  search  of  the 
harbor  or  river  reported  on  Spanish  maps  at 
about  the  46th  degree  of  latitude.  He  says 
that  in  the  latitude  of  46  degrees  and  47  minutes 
he  discovered  a  headland  which  he  called  Cape 
Shoalwater.  Sailing  thence  along  the  coast 
to  the  south,  he  beheld  a  high  bluff  promon- 
tory, and  afterward  land  was  discovered  beyond, 
which  made  him  think  that  he  had  discovered 
the  harbor.  He  rounded  the  promontory  and 
discovered  a  large  bay  which  bore  a  very 
promising  appearance  and  into  which  he  started 
with  very  encouraging  expectation.  But  as  he 
approached,  the  water  shoaled  to  nine  and 
eight  and  seven  fathoms,  and  breakers  were 
seen  from  the  deck  right  ahead,  and  from    the 


32  THE    RICE    MILLS 

mast  head  they  were  discovered  to  extend 
across  the  bay,  and  therefore  he  hauled  out. 
The  name  Cape  Disappointment  was  given  to 
the  promontory,  and  the  bay  was  called  Decep- 
tion Bay.  This  was  found  to  be  in  latitude 
forty-six  degrees,  ten  minutes,  (the  latitude 
of  the  mouth  of  the  Columbia,)  and  he  went 
away  asserting  that  there  was  no  river  or  har- 
bor there. 

The  third  centennial  of  the  discovery  of  Amer- 
ica found  in  the  Pacific  Northwest  its  two  great- 
est discoverers  and  explorers,  Captains  George 
Vancouver  of  England,  and  Robert  Gray,  of 
Boston,  Massachusetts.  Vancouver  arrived 
upon  the  coast  near  Cape  Mendocino  and 
followed  it  north  to  the  entrance  of  the  Strait 
of  Fuca,  where  he  met  and  conferred  with  Gray. 
Upon  parting,  Gray  proceeded  south  along  the 
coast  and  discovered  and  explored  what  he 
named  Bulfinch  Harbor,  in  compliment  to  one 
of  the  owners  of  his  ship.  It  is,  however,  now 
known  as  Gray's  Harbor,  in  honor  of  the  dis- 
coverer, while  English  maps  frequentlydesignate 
it  Whidby  Harbor,  because  it  was  afterward 
surveyed  by  Lieutenant  Whidby,  the  comman- 
der of  one  of  Vancouver's  vessels,  though  it 
was  then  known  that  Gray  had  discovered  and 
named  it.  From  here,  Gray  went  to  the  great 
river  south    of    Cape    Disappointment,  dashed 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY 


33 


through  the  breakers  that  always  extend  across 
the  bay,  presenting  a  formidable  appearance, 
and  found  himself  on  a  broad  river  which  he 
ascended  twenty  miles  and  set  about  trading 
with  the  Indians.  On  leaving  the  river,  he 
bestowed  upon  it  the  name  of  his  ship,  the 
"Columbia." 

Meanwhile,  Vancouver  prosecuted  his  survey 
of  the  Strait  of  Fuca.  He  sailed  along  the 
south  side  about  a  hundred  miles,  where  he 
found  a  harbor  which  he  named  Port  Discovery, 
after  the  sloop  of  war  "The  Discovery"  in 
which  he  sailed.  He  next  entered  the  passage 
opening  to  the  south,  which,  in  honor  of  the 
department  of  goverment  called  "The  Admir- 
alty," he  named  Admiralty  Inlet,  and  explored 
it  to  its  termination,  about  a  hundred  miles 
from  the  strait,  in  a  bay  called  by  him  Puget's 
Sound,  in  compliment  to  one  of  the  Lieutenants 
of  the  "Discovery. "  On  the  king's  birthday  he 
landed  and  took  possession  of  the  whole  region 
in  the  name  of  his  sovereign,  calling  it  New 
Georgia,  and  the  water  where  he  landed,  he 
called  Possession  Sound. 

Accompanying  Vancouver,  as  subordinate 
officers,  were  also  Joseph  Baker  and  Joseph 
Whidby  and  his  friend  Mr.  Orchard  :  and  high 
in  his  esteem  were  the  Marquis  of  Townsend, 
Lord  Hood,  St.  Helens,  (the   British  minister 


34  THE    RICE    MILLS 

to  Spain)  Vice  Admiral  Gardner,  Rear  Admiral 
Rainier,  and  Captains  Vashon  and  Wilson,  of 
the  British  navy ;  all  of  whom  are  recognized 
in  the  geography  of  the  Pacific  Northwest. 
Vancouver  also  named  Port  Orchard,  Deception 
Pass,  Port  Susan,  Bellingham  Bay  and  New 
Dungeness,  from  its  resemblance  to  Dungeness 
in  the  British  Channel. 

After  fully  surveying  the  inlets  south  of  the 
Strait  of  Fuca,  Vancouver  proceeded  north 
along  the  northwest  coast,  exploring  the  various 
bays,  islands,  sounds  and  channels,  many  of 
which  had  already  been  discovered,  to  all  of 
which,  however,  he  assigned  names  in  honor  of 
the  royal  family,  the  ministry,  the  peerage, 
and  the  other  branches  of  the  government  of 
Great  Britain.  Thus,  on  Vancouver's  map  of 
the  Northwest  Archipelago,  we  find  islands 
and  groups  of  islands  named  King  George  the 
Third,  the  Prince  of  Wales,  The  Duke  of  York, 
The  Admiralty,  Pitt,  etc.  In  fact,  the  explor- 
ers of  every  country  visiting  this  region 
assigned  names  to  the  places,  so  that  almost 
every  spot  has  had  from  two  to  half  a  dozen 
names.  The  surviving  name  has  usually  been 
the  one  assigned  by  the  nation  to  which  the 
territory  ultimately  fell,  and  the  names  given 
by  Vancouver,  except  perhaps  in  that  part  of 
the  country  which  fell    to    Great    Britain    and 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  35 

certain  names  within  the  present  limits  of  the 
United  States,  have  pretty  generally  been  sup- 
planted by  the  names  originally  given  by  the 
natives,  or  by  the  people  inhabiting  the  locality. 
The  names  designed  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  bigoted  royalists  in  particular,  have  not 
been  received  by  the  Americans,  nor  indeed  by 
the  subjects  of  any  other  nation,  with  very  great 
favor. 

After  the  beginning  of  the  Nineteenth  cen- 
tury, exploring  expeditions  were  sent  from  the 
United  States  to  the  Pacific  Northwest;  the 
first  of  which,  in  1805-6,  under  Messrs.  Lewis 
and  Clark,  of  the  United  States  Army,  crossed 
the  Rocky  Mountains  and  explored  the  valley 
of  the  Columbia  from  the  source  of  the  Lewis 
to  the  sea.  An  American  trading  post  was 
established  at  Astoria  in  181 1,  and  soon  after 
the  Hudson  Bay  and  the  Northwest  Fur 
companies  of  Great  Britain  began  establishing 
trading  posts  in  this  region.  The  first  settlers, 
other  than  for  commercial  and  missionary  pur- 
poses, located  in  the  Pacific  Northwest  in  1836. 
About  this  time  the  importance  of  this  region 
began  to  be  realized  by  the  Americans.  Ac- 
cordingly the  United  States  government  sent 
the  renowned  American  naval  officer,  Charles 
Wilkes,  to  survey  the  entire  region.  He  set 
sail  with  six  ships,  and  arrived  on    the    North- 


36  THE    RICE    MILwS 

west  coast  in  1841.  One  of  his  vessels  was  the 
United  States  Brig  "Bainbridge. "  "Maury"  and 
"Case"  were  two  of  his  lieutenants.  He  named 
Hale's  Passage  after  the  philologist  of  the 
expedition,  Dana's  Passage,  after  the  miner- 
alogist, and  Drayton's  Passage,  after  the 
draughtsman.  He  also  named  Port  Madison, 
Elliot  Bay,  Blake  Island,  Colvo's  Passage, 
Useless  Bay,  Gig  Harbor,  Commencement  Bay, 
Budd's  Inlet,  Hammersley's  Inlet,  Henderson's 
Inlet,  Port  Gamble,  etc. 

Up  to  a  very  late  day  the  whites  who  visited 
the  coast  were  distinguished  by  the  Indians  as 
either  King  George  men  (Englishmen)  or 
Boston  men  (Americans).  The  first  American 
settlements  on  the  Sound  were  made  around 
the  lake  near  old  Fort  Steilacoom,  and  the 
Indians  at  once  named  it  "Boston  country, "  as 
distinguished  from  the  "King  George  country" 
at  Fort  Nisqually ;  and  out  of  this  grew  the 
name  of  "American  Lake." 

As  may  be  inferred  from  the  time  and  manner 
of  its  discovery  and  early  exploration,  this 
region  was  claimed  by  several  European  nations 
and  by  the  United  States.  Under  the  treaty 
of  1803,  by  which  France  ceded  Louisiana  to 
the  United  States,  the  latter  succeeded  to  all 
the  claim  and  interests  of  France  in  the  Pacific 
Northwest ;    and    likewise    the    United    States 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  37 

acquired  Spain's  interest  under  the  treaty  of 
1819,  by  which  Spain  ceded  Florida  to  the 
United  States.  By  the  treaty  concluded  be- 
tween the  United  States  and  Great  Britain  in 
1846,  the  boundary  between  those  nations  was 
fixed  at  the  49th  degree  of  north  latitude,  and 
in  1867  the  United  States  purchased  the  whole 
Russian  possessions  in  America. 

That  part  of  the  Pacific  Northwest  that  fell 
to  the  United  States  was  constituted  the 
territory  of  Oregon  in  1843.  In  1852  the  in- 
habitants north  of  the  Columbia  River  petitioned 
Congress  for  separate  political  organization 
under  the  name  of  the  territory  of  Columbia. 
When  the  matter  came  up  in  Congress  in  1853, 
Mr.  Stanton  of  Kentucky  said  :  "I  desire  to 
see,  if  I  should  live  so  long,  at  some  future 
day,  a  sovereign  state  bearing  the  name  of  the 
father  of  his  country.  I  therefore  move  to 
strike  out  the  word  "Columbia"  wherever  it 
occurs  in  the  bill,  and  insert  in  lieu  thereof 
the  word  "Washington."  Oregon  was  admitted 
into  the  Union  of  states  in  1859,  and  Washing- 
ton in  1889. 

The  fourth  centennial  of  the  discovery  of 
America  was  the  most  important  epoch  in  the 
history  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  in  that  it 
marks  the  discovery  and  occupation  of  Port 
Mystery,  of  which  more  will  be  said    hereafter. 


38  THE    RICE    MILLS 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    FIRST  PERIOD   OF   RAPID   GROWTH 

It  was  not  until  the  admission  into  the  Union 
of  the  great  territories  in  the  northwestern  part 
of  the  United  States,  about  the  beginning  of 
the  last  decade  of  the  Nineteenth  century,  that 
the  Pacific  Northwest  began  its  astonishing 
career.  The  wonderful  rapidity  of  its  settle- 
ment and  development  is  common  fame  the 
world  over.  Besides  its  natural  advantages, 
apparent  in  all  times  to  those  who  would  look, 
there  were  several  causes  operative  just  then 
to  effect  such  a  result.  It  was  the  last  of  all 
the  wests  into  which,  one  after  another, 
poured  our  Aryan  forefathers  in  their  search 
for  the  great  city.  At  first  roaming  over  the 
plains  of  western  Asia  in  feeble  bands,  then 
traveling  westward  with  increased  numbers  and 
settling  eastern  Europe,  then,  overflowing 
western  Europe,  peopling  every  land  and  build- 
ing mighty  empires,  then  crossing  the  Atlantic 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  39 

in  irresistible  numbers  and  establishing  the 
Great  Republic,  and  there  overcoming  with  one 
mighty  wave  of  emigration  after  another  one 
west  after  another  ;  this  ever  increasing  force 
of  humanity  at  last  struck  the  shore  of  the  broad 
Pacific.  The  stop  was  the  more  abrupt  by 
meeting  here  the  east.  Here  was  the  field  of 
the  world's  greatest  battle,  not  the  trial  of 
animal  strength  for  the  physical  control  of 
fellowmen,  but  of  genius,  intellect  and  pro- 
ductive ability  for  the  industrial  supremacy  of 
the  world.  At  that  time  the  world  was  much 
more  densely  populated  than  ever  before. 
Especially  was  this  true  of  the  United  States. 
The  then  unprecedented  growth  of  the  preced- 
ing great  Northwest,  the  valley  of  the  Upper 
Mississippi,  was  the  marvel  of  the  age.  When 
that  growth  began,  the  United  States  had  a 
population  of  only  some  thirty  or  forty  millions, 
while  the  Pacific  Northwest  had  between  sixty 
and  seventy  millions  people  to  draw  from. 
Moreover,  when  that  Northwest  was  settled, 
the  eastern  part  of  the  country  was  exceedingly 
thinly  populated.  There  were  opportunities 
for  all.  It  was  at  the  time  of  the  application 
of  the  then  new  agency,  steam.  Factories  were 
being  started — steamboats  built — railroads 
constructed — everything  new  and  experimental, 
demanding  many  men  and  much  wealth.     It  is 


40  THE    RICE    MILLS 

not  far  from  the  truth  to  state  that  to  every  man 
unemployed  or  seeking  other  fields  of  employ- 
ment, and  to  every  dollar  seeking  investment, 
in  the  days  of  the  development  of  the  old 
northwest,  there  were  a  hundred  men  and  a 
thousand  dollars  when  the  Pacific  Northwest 
was  first  developed. 

Not  only  were  all  the  conditions  ripe  for  a 
wonderfully  rapid  growth,  but  by  reason  of 
the  progress  in  the  mechanical  world,  during 
the  years  immediately  preceeding,  it  was  pos- 
sible to  develop  a  country  with  a  rapidity 
never  before  within  the  power  of  man.  The 
development  of  the  earlier  northwest  was 
limited  by  the  nation's  progress  in  mechanics. 
The  great  prairies  stretching  from  the  Missis- 
sippi to  the  Rocky  Mountains  were  supposed 
to  be  utterly  useless,  even  when  emigration  was 
forging  its  way  further  and  further  into  them  ; 
for,  it  was  argued,  conceding  the  productive- 
ness of  the  soil,  its  products  can  never  recom- 
pense the  labor  necessary  to  market  them.  But 
the  steamboats,  and  the  railroads,  and  the 
thousand  other  inventions,  solved  the  problem 
when  it  was  reached ;  yet  only  gradually. 
When,  however,  the  Pacific  Northwest  was 
settled,  these  problems  of  mechanics  were 
mainly  settled.  There  was  needed  only  the 
application.       And  so  there    poured    into    this 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  41 

country  thousands  upon  thousands  of  indus- 
trious, energetic  and  capable  men,  and  millions 
of  needed  wealth.  Railroads  were  built  through 
wildernesses  and  became  the  principal  agency  in 
their  settlement,  when  always  before  the  settle- 
ment was  a  condition  antecedent  to  the  con- 
struction of  railways.  They  brought  to  the  tide 
the  whole  country  not  already  there.  Wharves, 
storehouses,  elevators,  mills,  factories  and 
foundaries,  sprang  up  everywhere.  The 
hundreds  of  miles  of  water  front  of  Puget  Sound 
were  set  at  short  intervals  with  bustling  cities. 
In  everything  was  exhibited  the  spirit  of  un- 
trammeled  progress. 

It  is  astonishing  how  people  cling  to  custom 
and  tradition.  The  past  has  always  revealed 
in  the  main  but  an  unsightly  mass  of  error  and 
absurdity  when  looked  back  upon,  though  of 
course,  at  the  time  the  people  would  have 
nothing  else.  Cumbersome  old  machinery  has 
been  retained,  extravagant  processes  continued 
and  false  ideas  stubbornly  adhered  to  through 
man's  vanity,  avarice,  prejudice  and  ignorance, 
(or,  perhaps  better,  through  his  humanity,) 
after  experience,  reason  and  truth  dictated 
otherwise.  But  in  this  new  country,  by  force 
of  circumstances,  everything  was  of  the  most 
approved  type.  Everything  was  new.  This 
alone  gave  the  countrv  a    wonderful   advantage 


42 


THE    RICE    MILLS 


over  other  localities.  When  proprietors  else- 
where were  making  every  effort  to  avoid  pur- 
chasing new  machinery,  here  the  newest  was 
purchased  of  course.  Moreover,  the  scarcity  of 
laborers,  as  compared  with  the  results  to  be 
accomplished,  gave  a  special  impetus  to  the 
invention  and  application  of  all  sorts  of  labor- 
saving  devices ;  so  that  manufacturing,  which 
clung  to  old  processes  and  machines  in  other 
countries,  was  here  done  with  much  less 
human  exertion.  And  when,  even  in  parts  of 
the  United  States,  common  councils  and  influ- 
ential citizens  were  still  suspicious  of  the  bene- 
ficient  designs  of  electricity  and  required  gas 
to  be  used  to  light  the  streets  and  horses  to 
pull  street-cars,  the  youths  of  the  great  cities 
of  Puget  Sound  never  heard  of  lamp  posts  or 
horsecars,  and  would  look  upon  the  spectacle, 
so  common  in  eastern  cities,  of  weary  horses 
dragging  overloaded  street-cars  up  and  down 
hill  and  over  parched  pavements,  as  barbarous. 
But  more  important  than  all  was  the  charac- 
ter of  its  citizens.  A  great  state  is  no  more 
made  of  land  and  water,  than  is  a  great  college 
of  stone  and  mortar.  The  people  were  broad- 
minded — the  select  of  all  nations,  but  domi- 
nated by  none.  Combined,  they  possessed  the 
knowledge,  skill,  genius  and  art  of  all  lands, 
with  the  courage  and    disposition    to    use    the 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  43 

best,  regardless  of  pride  or  prejudice,  sources  or 
consequences.  At  this  time,  too,  the  United 
States  was  just  beginning  to  wrest  from  the 
parent  country  her  commercial  supremacy.  For 
years  it  was  sufficiently  powerful,  but,  like  a 
rapidly  matured  child,  all  unconscious  of  its 
growth,  did  not  appreciate  its  strength  until  in 
an  accidental  contest  it  was  established  as  a 
reality.  But  still  the  mother  country  remained 
powerful  on  the  Atlantic.  She  had  herself 
settled  most  of  its  shores.  Her  supremacy 
had  grown  through  centuries  as  gradually  as 
the  settlement,  and  could  only  be  overcome  by 
much  exertion.  Nor  was  England  the  only 
rival.  There  was  sharp  competition  from 
other  European  nations  almost  as  powerful 
commercially.  Still  all  these  nations  were 
handicapped  to  a  large  degree  by  monarchies, 
nobilities  and  privileged  classes.  They  had 
large  standing  armies  and  navies.  All  valuable 
land  was  appropriated  centuries  before,  and 
descended  from  generation  to  generation, 
giving  rise  to  a  landlord  class  which  produced 
nothing  nor  contributed  anything  to  produc- 
tion, but  merely  lived,  like  the  soldiers  and 
nobility,  upon  the  products  of  the  toil  of  some 
one  else.  In  addition  to  this,  the  people  of 
European  countries  were  inclined  to  be  more 
superstitious,  and  upon  one  pretext  or  another, 


44  THE    RICE    MILLS 

supported  many  more  non-producers  than  did 
the  matter-of-fact  people  of  the  United  States. 
At  an  early  day  the  Asiatic  trip  became  very 
popular  with  tourists,  especially  those  seeking 
rest  and  escape  from  business  cares  and  those 
of  moderate  means.  Japan  furnished  a  delight- 
ful climate,  and  unlimited  accommodations 
and  hospitality.  A  journey  thither  was  like 
being  transported  into  another  world.  There 
was  nothing  to  remind  one  of  business,  or  of 
anything  he  had  ever  seen  before.  If  he  could 
not  here  free  himself  from  cares,  there  was  no 
place  on  earth  where  he  could.  The  people  were 
glad  to  receive  the  tourists,  and  showed  them 
every  attention,  at  an  extremely  low  price 
compared  with  the  cost  of  like  services  else- 
where. Therefore,  when  the  people  went 
abroad,  they  went  to  Japan.  The  Alaskan  trip 
was  also  very  common  among  the  wealthier 
classes.  This  travel  had  a  very  beneficial  in- 
fluence upon  the  Pacific  Northwest  in  two  prin- 
cipal ways :  First,  by  passing  twice  through 
the  region  and  here  changing  each  time  the 
mode  of  transportation  and  necessarily  stopping 
over  more  or  less  for  particular  boats  and 
trains,  the  attention  of  the  traveler  was  directed 
to  the  magnificent  harbor,  the  vast  resources 
of  the  country  and  its  rapid  development. 
And,  secondly,  every  traveler   through   eastern 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  45 

Asia  did  much  to  introduce  to  the  people  there 
the  instruments  of  civilization.  The  merchants 
of  the  Pacific  Northwest  energetically  followed 
this  up,  and  developed  an  almost  unlimited 
commerce.  « 

Upon  the  whole,  therefore,  it  was  clear  that 
countries  with  less  natural  resources  than  the 
United  States,  and  with  a  large  part  of  their 
able-bodied  men  producing  nothing  and  con- 
suming and  destroying  much,  could  not  long 
compete  with  this  nation  of  workers.  The 
"Star  of  Empire"  had  already  crossed  the 
Atlantic,  and  it  was  surely  only  a  question  of 
time  when  the  world's  metropolis  would  follow. 
And  looking  more  particularly,  the  Pacific 
Northwest  was  observed  to  be  not  unlike  its 
former  home.  Here  was  a  northernly  latitude, 
with  its  change  of  seasons  to  insure  a  healthful 
climate  and  stimulate  exertion,  yet  not  so  ex- 
treme as  to  dwarf  the  faculties  or  suspend  or 
retard  industrial  action  during  any  part  of  the 
year.  The  earnings  of  the  summer  season 
were  not  required  for  consumption  during  a 
long,  severe  winter.  The  temperature  rarely 
fell  below  the  freezing  point  during  the  coldest 
weather,  and  in  summer  it  was  always  dry  and 
temperate,     with    cool    and    healthful     nights. 

Production  and  accumulation  were  unabated. 
Vegetation  flourished  all  the    time.      It    was    a 


46  THE    RICE    MILLS 

continual  succession  of  crops.  The  flocks  and 
herds  could  be  pastured  the  whole  year  round, 
thus  avoiding  the  labor  and  expense  of  curing 
and  storing  feed  for  the  wasteful  winter  seasons 
of  other  climes.  The  sea  gave  an  abundance  of 
food  unequalled  anywhere  else.  Such  quantity 
of  fuel  was  nowhere  known.  In  short,  the 
abundance  and  cheapness  of  all  the  necessaries 
and  conveniences  for  an  unlimited  population 
was  beyond  all  parallel.  If  one  will  stop  to 
think  of  these  things  in  their  different  aspects, 
until  he  realizes  their  full  industrial  impor- 
tance, he  cannot  fail  to  look  upon  them  as 
the  most  powerful  agencies  in  the  development 
of  this  locality.  In  fine,  old  England  herself, 
favored  as  she  is,  has  not  been  blessed  with 
anything  like  as  favorable  a  climate  for  indus- 
trial purposes.  But  above  all  was  the  fact  that 
here  was  a  hemisphere  tributary  to  the  Pacific 
ocean  and  peopled  with  two-thirds  of  the 
globe's  inhabitants,  still  unsupplied  with  the 
mechanisms  and  appliances  of  modern  civiliza- 
tion, and  no  competitor  upon  the   hemisphere. 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY 


47 


CHAPTER  V 

THE   MECHANICAL  AGE 

The  Nineteenth  century  might  well  be  called 
the  Mechanical  Age.  To  be  sure,  before  that 
century  the  laws  of  mechanics  were  understood 
by  the  scholars  ;  but  then  was  the  age  of  prac- 
tical applications  ;  an  aee  of  relief  and  progress 
with  the  whole  people.  It  seemed  as  if  the 
limit  of  invention  of  labor-saving  machinery 
was  reached.  Men  knew  how  to  span  the  ocean 
and  move  mountains,  but  their  spans  and  cables 
would  break  of  their  own  weight.  It  seemed 
as  if  progress  must  stop  for  lack  of  new 
elements  and  substances.  It  looked  somewhat 
curious  that  the  vehicles  used  in  transportation 
either  by  land  or  water  should  weigh  nearly  as 
much  if  not  more  than  the  load  ;  but  that  was 
not  man's  fault.  It  was  the  best  he  could  do 
with  the  forces  given  him. 

But  the  truth  is  not  all  told  of  any  age  when 
only  good  is    said    of   it.      It    is    true    that    no 


48  THE    RICE    MILLS 

former  century  at  all  compared  with  the  Nine- 
teenth in  the  material  advancement  of  the 
masses  of  humanity.  Machinery  lifted  the 
loads  from  the  shoulders  of  the  toiling  millions 
as  never  before.  The  purpose  and  effect  of 
these  machines  were  to  enable  men  to  acquire 
objects  with  less  labor.  This  would  result  in 
their  producing,  with  the  same  amount  of 
physical  exertion,  many  more  of  the  things 
that  satisfy  human  desire,  or  in  producing  the 
same  number  of  things  with  fewer  hours'  work. 
In  actual  effect,  the  two  were  combined,  and 
the  masses  produced  more  and  labored  less. 
The  home  of  the  common  cottager  came  to 
contain  more  conveniences  and  luxuries  than 
were  to  be  found  a  few  centuries  before  in  the 
abodes  of  royalty.  The  peasant  girls  wore 
velvet  robes  that  would  have  aroused  the  envy 
of  haughty  Queen  Elizabeth.  Nevertheless, 
all  this  progress  was  effected  only  by  overcom- 
ing the  obstinate  resistance  of  an  amount  of 
ignorance  and  superstition  almost  incredible  of 
an  age  of  reason.  It  should  perhaps  be  said 
in  justification  of  the  people  of  that  century, 
that  the  ridiculously  erroneous  opinions  so 
prevalent  were  not  the  results  of  inability  to 
reason  but  rather  of  a  disinclination  to  do  so, 
consequent  upon  habit,  prejudice  and  vanity. 
The  bulk  of  these    erroneous    notions    may  be 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  49 

stated  as  comprised  within  one  or  the  other  of 
two  principal  propositions  urged  in  a  vague 
and  incoherent  way  by  the  multitude,  in  expec- 
tation of  advancing  their  welfare,  viz:  I.  The 
more  labor  necessary  to  acquire  objects  the 
better  ;  because,  as  it  was  argued,  the  more  labor, 
the  greater  the  demand  for  laborers,  the  greater 
this  demand,  the  higher  the  wages,  and  the 
higher  the  wages  the  better  for  the  laborer. 
2.  The  fewer  laborers  employed  in  the  per- 
formance of  that  labor  the  better ;  because  the 
fewer  laborers  competing  for  work,  the  greater 
the  demand  for  those  doing  it,  the  greater  the 
demand  the  higher  the  wages,  etc. 

Under  the  first  proposition  may  be  classed  the 
relic  of  the  disposition  manifested  by  the 
ignorant  in  all  ages,  to  oppose  labor-saving 
machinery.  It  was  the  Very  spirit  which 
prompted  the  knitters  in  olden  time  to  rise  in 
force  and  destroy  the  knitting  machines  then 
being  introduced.  And  so  also  was  opposed 
every  plan  for  accomplishing  the  support  of 
the  world  with  less  labor,  whether  in  the  line 
of  production  or  distribution.  Whenever  the 
people  were  enabled  to  produce  or  distribute  a 
commodity  with  a  suddenly  diminished  amount 
of  toil,  those  required  to  rearrange  their  affairs 
to  accord  with  the  improved  condition,  raised 
a  cry  which    was   responded    to    by    a    general 


50  THE    RICE    MILLS 

reverberation  of  sympathy  throughout  the 
whole  society  ;  and  this  whether  the  disturbance 
was  caused  by  the  invention  of  a  machine 
which  supplied  the  places  of  many  hands  in 
production,  or  the  introduction  of  a  system  of 
distribution  by  which  many  merchants  and 
middlemen  were  disemployed. 

Under  this  head,  too,  would  fall  the  invec- 
tives against  capital  which  played  so  prominent 
a  part  in  social  disturbances  during  the  latter 
part  of  the  century.  Capital  exhibits  itself 
mainly  as  the  means  whereby  discoveries  and 
inventions  are  applied  to  matter  and  made  to 
serve  humanity,  and  as  such  has  been  an  indis- 
pensable factor  in  the  progress  of  the  human 
race;  and  at  the  time  of  this  greatest  out-cry 
against  capital,  science  had  so  far  advanced  as 
to  permit  of  far  better  support  with  much  less 
labor,  if  only  there  had  been  capital  enough  to 
put  the  latest  improved  instruments  in  the 
hands  of  every  toiler,  so  that  his  labor  might 
be  made  many  times  more  effective.  Still,  it 
is  due  to  the  age  to  say  that  there  was  never  a 
permanent  and  reliable  majority  of  the  people 
in  support  of  any  one  of  such  false  conceptions. 
Otherwise,  we  should  expect  to  hear  of  their 
reversing  the  operation  of  the  patent  laws  so 
as  to  give  a  bonus  to  the  invention  and  use  of 
labor-creating  machinery.      It  would  have  taken 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  51 

no  genius  to  invent  a  machine  requiring  the 
application  of  a  year's  labor  to  make  a  common 
wooden  chair.  And  certainly  if  the  happiness 
of  mankind  lay  along  that  line,  it  would  have 
been  quickty  accomplished.  The  monopoly 
created  by  the  patent  laws  to  favor  the  inven- 
tion of  labor-saving  machinery,  was  objected 
to  by  very  few.  No  one  ever  presumed  to 
suggest  the  policy  of  encouraging  or  even 
of  tolerating  the  invention  and  adoption  of 
machinery  with  a  view  to  creating  labor.  Nor, 
except  in  isolated  cases  where  interested  per- 
sons appealed  to  the  prejudice  and  ignorance 
of  certain  classes,  did  any  one  ever  presume  to 
openly  urge  a  policy  which  would  tend  directly 
to  make  objects  more  difficult  of  acquisition. 
Under  the  second  proposition  should  be 
mentioned  the  almost  universal,  but  utterly 
indefinite,  conception  of  non-competition.  In 
obedience  to  this  idea,  many  insisted  that  those 
unfortunates  whom  society  found  it  necessary 
to  imprison  should  not  be  required  or  permitted 
to  produce  anything  which  could  compete  with 
free  labor.  And  since  the  production  of  any 
useful  object  competed  with  such  labor,  they 
insisted  that  convicts  be  not  permitted  to 
engage  in  producion.  This  idea  was  doubtless 
largely  responsible  for  the  continuance  of  stand- 
ing armies  and  navies,  ©f  royalty,  nobility,  and 


52  THE    RICE    MILLS 

indeed  hordes  of  needless  office-holders,  pen- 
sioners and  non-producers  of  all  kinds.  It 
was  supposed  that  their  competition,'  as  it  was 
called,  would  injure  rather  than  aid  producers. 
Where  a  certain  aggregate  production  was 
necessary  to  support  the  world  at  all,  and 
where  the  greater  this  aggregate  the  better  the 
support,  it  is  difficult  to  conceive  what  expla- 
nation could  be  offered  for  the  notion  that  the 
fewer  engaged  in  accomplishing  the  task  the 
easier  it  would  be  for  them.  But  here  again 
the  proposition  was  to  be  observed  only 
spasmodically,  the  cases  being  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  one  another,  so  that  when  the  idea 
was  totally  refuted  in  any  one  instance  (as  it 
always  might  be,)  it  broke  out  in  an  entirely 
new  and  unexpected  place,  to  be  cured  only  by 
an  application  of  the  same  remedy. 

If  the  proposition  had  been  sound,  it  would 
have  been  policy  for  one  half  of  the  people  to 
support  the  other  half  in  large  public  boarding 
houses  in  the  greatest  possible  elegance  (there- 
by creating  the  largest  possible  demand  for 
labor)  in  order  to  be  relieved  of  their  compe- 
tition in  production.  It  would  not  be  necessary 
to  kill  one  another,  or  destroy  property,  to 
make  a  demand  for  labor.  A  careful  study  of 
the  character  of  the  people  of  that  time  will 
convince    any    one    that    a    sufficient     number 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  53 

would  have  volunteered  to  occupy  the  board- 
ing-houses, to  fully  make  up  the  non-compet- 
ing class. 

Another  obstacle  to  progress  was  especially 
potent  in  the  Pacific  Northwest ;  namely,  land 
speculation.  At  the  time  of  the  admission  into 
the  Union  of  the  great  territories  much  land 
was  already  appropriated  by  private  parties. 
Town  plats  covered  more  ground  than  was 
occupied  by  the  many  millions  of  all  England's 
municipalities.  Hundreds  of  men  became  rich 
in  a  single  season.  A  good  share  of  the  appro- 
priated land  was  owned  by  non-residents  who 
did  nothing  to  develop  the  country.  Not  one 
thousandth  of  the  land  was  actually  used  ;  nor 
did  its  owners  in  most  cases  ever  intend  to  use 
it.  The  countless  millions  representing  the 
speculative  value  of  the  land  and  the  thousands 
of  fortunes  "made"  as  it  was  called,  were  the 
mere  creations  of  law.  The  land,  constituting 
the  so-called  wealth,  would  produce  no  more 
fruit  or  grain,  nor  support  more  or  higher 
buildings  than  a  few  years  before  when  it  was 
worth  nothing.  Nothing  useful  was  given  to 
society.  Production  was  not  assisted  nor 
stimulated.  Nothing  valuable  was  brought 
into  the  country  from  without,  nor  produced 
within  ;  nothing  even  taken  presently  from  one 
person  and    given    to    another.      In    fine,    this 


54  THE    RICE    MILLS 

pretended  wealth  was  merely  a  power  or  fran- 
chise created  by  the  conventional  laws  of 
society  and  secured  to  the  speculator,  which 
enabled  him,  his  heirs  and  asigns  forever,  to 
appropriate  a  certain  portion  of  whatever  was 
produced  by  the  toil  of  others  upon  the  land, 
to  eternity.  This  present  value  of  this  quasi 
annuity  comprised  the  wealth  of  the  specula- 
tors. The  product  of  labor  which  rolled  in 
upon  this  class  of  society  under  their  annuities 
enabled  them  to  live  in  greater  elegance  than 
the  gold  princes  of  California.  Like  the 
power  of  gold,  too,  it  merely  shifted  the  burdens 
from  one  man  to  another.  The  world's  labor 
had  to  be  done  in  the  same  way  and  by  somebody. 
The  land  power  merely  relieved  some  people 
of  their  share  of  the  burdens  and  cast  it  upon 
others,  who,  of  course,  were  compelled  to  bear 
a  double  burden.  Nothing  was  given  the  pro- 
ducers upon  whom  devolved  the  burden.  On 
the  contrary,  their  task  was  rendered  more 
difficult  by  reason  of  the  inclination  to  play  the 
"dog  in  the  manger"  and  neither  use  the  land 
nor  allow  any  one  else  to,  in  order  to  increase 
the  number  of  products  due  under  the  power. 
The  producers  would  have  fared  far  better 
under  a  pure  pension  from  the  government,  or 
under  the  boarding-house  system ;  for  labor 
would  then  have  had  the  full  use  of  that  other 


of  port  Mystery  53 

indispensable  factor  in  all  production,  the  earth 
itself.  The  greater  the  restriction  upon  the  ap- 
plication of  labor  to  the  earth,  the  less  the  pro- 
duction and  the  poorer  the  support.  Therefore, 
it  mattered  not  how  much  labor  and  capital 
were  brought  into  the  new  country  ;  unless  they 
could  be  applied  to  the  land,  either  directly 
or  indirectly,  there  could  be  no  production  and 
no  development ;  and  the  more  ready  and  free 
the  application,  the  more  rapid  the  develop- 
ment. 

May  it  be  understood  here  that  no  reflection 
is  intended  upon  those  who  came  here  and 
secured  land,  whether  as  pioneers  or  afterward, 
and,  by  the  application  of  labor,  cleared  and 
tilled  it,  built  cities  and  established  industries. 
These  men  brought  all  that  was  brought  into 
the  country,  their  own  labor  if  nothing  more. 
To  these  men  was  due  not  only  the  gratitude 
of  the  whole  people, but  also  the  ever-increasing 
stream  of  products  paid  to  people,  principally 
non-residents, simply  because  they  knew  enough 
to  seize  upon  the  greatest  opportunities  in  the 
world  when  they  cost  nothing.  It  was  the  toil 
and  devotion  of  these  industrial  pioneers  that 
created  the  power  to  exact  the  tithe  of  the 
producer. 

After  all,  it  must  be  admitted  that  aside 
from  the  notions  entertained    by    disconnected 


56  THE    RICE    MILLS 

and  inharmonious  factions,  each  controlled  by 
its  supposed  special  interests  and  all  contending 
with  one  another  for  the  supremacy  of  their 
particular  whim,  instead  of  co-operating  for  a 
general  principle,  the  great  majority  always 
appreciated  the  abstract  proposition  that  with- 
out the  assistance  of  science,  discovery  and 
invention,  and  the  means  of  applying  them — 
capital — the  present  population  of  the  world 
could  not  exist ;  that  the  world  was  getting 
better  and  afforded  its  people  a  much  easier 
and  happier  existence  than  ever  before  ;  and 
that  the  whole  progress  from  the  savage  state 
to  the  state  of  enlightenment  with  all  its 
incidents,  could  be  traced  to  the  principle  of 
contriving  and  applying  every  means  of  procur- 
ing objects  with  the  least  possible  labor. 
Certain  discoveries  and  inventions  about  the 
close  of  the  nineteenth  century,  principally 
within  the  domain  of  chemistry,  so  emphasized 
many  popular  errors  as  to  attract  public  atten- 
tion, and  when  looked  upon  in  the  light  of 
reason,  they  vanished  forever. 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  57 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE   CHEMICAL  AGE 

The  advent  of  the  so-called  Chemical  Age 
brought  many  changes  to  both  social  and 
industrial  affairs.  As  before  stated,  mechanical 
arts  and  invention  reached  such  a  degree  of 
perfection  during  the  nineteenth  century,  that 
further  marked  industrial  progress  seemed  im- 
possible without  new  elements  upon  which  to 
operate.  Chemistry  immediately  took  up  the 
line  of  progress,  developed  the  new  elements 
and  substances  as  fast  as  demanded,  and  the 
world  advanced  with  giant  strides  beyond  all 
precedent. 

Aluminium  was  one  of  the  first  of  these  sub- 
stances. The  metal  had  long  been  known  and 
used  in  chemistry,  but  the  amount  of  labor 
required  to  obtain  it  was  too  great  to  admit  of 
its  use  in  the  mechanical  arts,  and  hence,  it  was 
of  very  little  practical  service  to  man.  The 
process  of  reducing  aluminium    was    gradually 


58  THE     KICK    MILLS 

improved  until  it  cost  little  more  than  fifty  cents 
per  pound.  Inasmuch  as  it  weighs  only  about 
one-third  as  much  as  iron,  a  pound  of  it 
would  go  as  far  as  three  pounds  of  iron,  and 
therefore,  its  cost  was  but  three  or  four  times 
as  much  as  iron.  Then  came  the  great  chemi- 
cal discovery  by  which  the  amount  of  labor 
necessary  to  reduce  it  was  so  diminished  that 
it  cost  less  per  pound  than  steel.  Partly  in 
honor  of  the  inventor  (for  here  may  it  be  said 
to  the  lasting  praise  of  our  people,  the  old 
saying  that  "a  prophet  is  not  without  honor 
save  in  his  own  land,"  never  had  any  applica- 
tion) and  partly  because  by  education  our 
people  were  quicker  to  accept  an  entirely  new 
idea,  the  lead  in  the  manufacture  of  aluminium 
ware  was  assumed  and  has  ever,  since  been 
retained.  The  hundreds  of  brick-yards  that 
sprang  up  so  suddenly  all  around  Puget  Sound 
in  response  to  the  demand  of  the  new  cities 
growing  up  simultaneously  on  every  hand,  were 
converted  into  aluminium-works,  and  many 
new  works  were  started.  Every  old  clay  bank 
along  the  water  front  at  once  bristled  with  busy 
hands  reducing  aluminium.  In  the  cities  this 
was  put  into  every  conceivable  form.  It  sup- 
planted nearly  all  the  other  metals,  giving  a 
cheaper  and  more  serviceable  article.  Except 
where  weight  was  necessary,  it  supplanted  iron 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  59 

and  steel  entirely.  Aside  from  cheapness,  its 
lightness  gave  it  decided  preference.  Its 
tensile  and  traverse  strength  was  as  great  as 
steel.  It  would  not  burn,  rust  nor  corrode, was 
not  affected  by  time  or  the  elements  in  any  way  ; 
and  withal  of  only  one-third  the  weight  of 
steel.  It  solved  the  problem  of  reducing  the 
weight  of  the  carriage  to  a  fraction  of  the  load, 
and  therefore  came  into  general  use  in  the 
manufacture  of  all  sorts  of  vehicles.  Its  influ- 
ence upon  ocean  transportation  was  still  greater. 
Boats  and  vessels  of  every  character  soon  came 
to  be  built  of  aluminium.  The  hulls  were 
light,  strong  and  unaffected  by  the  sea.  The 
mast,  spars,  decks  and  cabins,  the  cables  and 
chains,  were  all  of  aluminium.  Only  the  pon- 
derous black  anchor,  significant  of  the  gravity 
of  its  duties  and  the  gloom  of  its  field  of 
action,  remains  to  remind  us  of  the  once  proud 
era  of  iron  ships.  What  could  more  fitly 
represent  the  change  from  the  cumbersome  old 
notions  of  resting  a  man  by  giving  him  more 
work,  and  easing  his  burdens  by  putting  another 
man's  upon  him,  to  the  principle  of  securing 
to  men  the  most  possible  with  the  least  labor, 
than  the  change  from  the  heavy  black  hulls 
and  clumsy  rigging  of  the  iron  ship,  to  the 
light  and  trim  form  and  untarnished  silvery 
luster  of  the    modern    queen    of  the    sparkling 


60  THE    RICE    MILLS 

realm?  On  the  land,  too,  all  was  bright  and 
glistening.  The  railroads,  bridges,  electric 
wires,  farming  implements,  fences,  side-walks, 
all  formerly  constructed  of  iron  or  some  other 
more  destructible  substance,  can  now  hardly  be 
told  from  silver. 

The  expenditure  of  labor  in  replacing  and 
repairing  the  effect  of  rust  and  decay  and  the 
many  hours  of  distressing  toil  saved  by  the 
discovery  of  the  new  method  of  reducing 
aluminium,  would  alone  have  immortalized  the 
discoverer,  but  this  was  hardly  a  beginning  of 
the  accomplishments  of  this  most  renowned 
prince  of  the  industrial  world.  Aside  from  his 
genius,  he  was  just  such  a  man  as  the  spirit  of  the 
age  most  admired.  He  was  a  modest,  unas- 
suming person,  ever  kind  and  gentle,  a  friend 
to  humanity,  conscious  of  his  own  faults  and 
weaknesses  and  always  ready  to  overlook  and 
forgive  those  of  others.  He  had  a  cheerful 
salutation  and  a  good  word  for  everybody,  and 
addressed  whomsoever  he  thought  would  return 
it.  He  knew  his  neighbors,  rich  and  poor 
alike,  and  seemed  to  have  an  ambition  to  know 
every  one  in  the  metropolis.  While  these  may 
not  have  been  considered  qualities  of  greatness 
in  ancient  times,  the  world  was  tired  of  pomp, 
boasting,  conceitedness,  vanity  and  power. 

He  was,  moreover,  a  typical  American,  that 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  6l 

is,  he  was  born  at  Chicago.  His  mother  was 
French  and  his  father  Australian.  His  mother 
was  born  in  Alsace-Lorraine  while  that  was 
a  province  of  France,  her  father  being  German 
and  her  mother  French.  She  was  what  might 
be  called  a  patriotic  woman.  No  matter  how 
far  away  she  got  from  the  much  loved  home 
of  her  childhood,  she  always  knew  what  was 
occurring  there,  and  entertained  keenest  sym- 
pathy for  the  neighbors  of  her  youth.  Many 
of  her  friends  and  relatives  were  imprisoned 
and  killed  in  war  and  during  the  long  conten- 
tion in  that  border  province.  She  knew  both 
sides  of  the  contest  and  of  course  knew  how 
utterly  needless  and  cruel  it  was  ;  how  those 
people  abandoned  their  homes,  their  friends  and 
their  consciences  and  fought  and  killed  their 
neighbors  to  maintain  the  supposed  glory  of 
lifeless,  soulless  creatures  of  law  which  sacri- 
ficed, oppressed  and  enslaved  them  all  in  the 
fair  name  of  patriotism.  She  knew  how  all  the 
suffering  and  misery  was  occasioned  by  the 
pride,  ambition  and  brutality  of  perhaps  less 
than  one  person  in  the  hundred,  the  ninety- 
nine  of  whom  bore  the  burdens  and  paid  the 
penalty  of  the  crime.  She  often  talked  of  these 
things  to  her  son  and  explained  how  it  all 
resulted  not  from  necessity  or  any  law  of  the 
Creator,  or  even  from  the    conduct  of    the  one 


62  THE    RICE    MILLS 

man  in  the  hundred  (for    what    could    he    do) 
but  from  the  ignorance  of  her  own  people. 

His  father  was  of  English  descent, and  indeed 
from  that  sect  called  Friends  or  Quakers,  whose 
peculiarites  in  speech  and  dress  he  did  not 
adopt,  but  who,  nevertheless,  held  firmly  to 
their  beliefs  and  inculcated  not  a  few  of  them 
into  the  young  man. 

As  a  boy,  he  knew  all  the  ins  and  outs  of 
the  city  of  his  birth.  In  his  school-boy  days, 
he  saw  it  grow  from  a  country  village  to  a 
great  city.  He  caught  the  movement  of  its 
people,  who  had  not  time  to  walk  but  always 
ran  or  rode.  Inheriting  a  roving  disposition 
and  an  intuition  that  the  place  of  his  birth  was 
not  necessarily  the  centre  of  all  there  was  to 
live  for  in  the  world,  he  resolved  to  pass  the 
short  period  allowed  for  his  existence  in  a 
country  that  afforded  at  least  comfort,  and  to 
locate  in  that  one  which  had  the  best  industrial 
prospects.  The  Pacific  Northwest  answered 
most  nearly  these  requirements  in  his  opinion, 
and  he  accordingly  came  to  a  little  village  on 
Puget  Sound  and  set  about  his  work.  He 
attracted  no  particular  attention.  No  one  knew 
just  who  he  was,  nor  what  he  was  there  for,  but 
assumed  that  he  knew  and  that  was  as  far  as 
they  were  interested.  There  was  a  disposition 
on  the  part  of  some  to    pass  such  an    one    by, 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  5, 

because  of  a  feeling  of  superiority  growing  out 
of  long  residence  or   greater   wealth,  or    some 
petty  official  position,  but  there  was  never  any- 
thing like  the  spirit    of    rank    and    distinction 
prevalent  in  older  communities.     The  majoritv 
of  the  people    received    openly    and    cordially 
every  one  who  bore  the  marks  of  good  character. 
They    had    all    recently    been    over    the    same 
course.     That  a  man  was  a  son   or   nephew    or 
cousin  of  so-and-so,  was    not    conclusive      Be- 
side, the  men  who  might  be  looked  upon  with 
scorn    to  day,    were    likely    to    be    leaders    to- 
morrow.    The  smoothest,  politest  and  prettiest 
men,  who  paraded    their    wealth    and    virtues 
were  very  often  masquerading  to   escape    iden- 
tification and  extradition  for  some  delinquency 
«  their   former    abodes.      Hence,  probably,  no 
people  ever  so  invariably  investigated  for  them- 
selves the  merits  of  a  person,  and  paid  so  little 
attention  to  what  was  said  of  him,  or  what    he 
said  of  himself,  as  here. 

The  inventor  was  a  close  student  of  science 
especially  chemistry  and  physics.  He  was  a 
keen  observer  of  human  nature  and  studied  well 
the  laws  of  society  and  of  industry.  His 
greatest  genius,  however,  lay  in  his  Yankee 
quality  of  applying  everything  he  knew  to 
some  use.  He  took  up  and  established  to  the 
satisfaction  of  many  people  the  theory  that    all 


64  THE    RICE    MILLS 

substance  consists  of  one  primary  element. 
The  idea  had  existed  for  thousands  of  years, 
and  every  time  what  had  previously  been  set 
down  as  a  primary  element  was  separated,  it 
gave  new  force  to  the  theory  that  all  the  so- 
called  elements  would  be  reduced  to  one  when 
man  came  to  know  enough  to  do  it.  But  up 
to  this  time  no  benefit  had  resulted  from  the 
theory.  All  the  knowledge  involved  in  the 
new  process  of  reducing  aluminium  was  pos- 
sessed by  many,  but  no  one  applied  the  knowl- 
edge so  as  to  benefit  the  people. 

Although  he  by  no  means  proved  the  theory 
that  any  substance  could  be  created  from  any 
other  by  reducing  it  to  the  primary  element 
and  then  recombining  it  in  the  manner  of  the 
substance  required ;  yet  he  did  succeed  in 
separating  many  elements  before  inseparable, 
and  combining  them  in  connection  with  the 
common  elements  so  as  to  form  substances 
entirely  different,  and  produce  most  astonishing- 
results. 

The  most  striking  instances  of  discoveries  in 
this  line  were  those  in  which,  for  all  practical 
purposes,  inorganic  matter  was  changed  to 
organic.  Changing  such  subtances  as  wood, 
coal  and  the  like  into  vegetable  products  for 
the  nourishment  of  human  beings,  seemed  be- 
yond the    power    of    mortal    conception,      The 


O^    PORT    MYSTERY  65 

very  suggestion  of  such  a  thing  aroused  all  the 
doubts  and  prejudices  of  human  nature.  The 
introduction  of  such  a  product  was  resisted  by 
the  enemies  of  progess  with  the  supernatural 
strength  rallied  upon  the  last  struggle  for  life. 
All  the  sophistry  of  all  the  ages  was  employed, 
every  human  weakness  played  upon  in  private 
and  in  public,  in  the  pulpit  and  on  the  platform, 
to  arrest  the  impending  innovation,  which  was 
destined  to  have  such  a  far-reaching  effect  in 
the  industrial  world. 

One  of  the  first  in  time  as  well  as  importance 
of  these  marvelous  discoveries,  and  therefore 
the  one  against  which  was  hurled  the  accumu- 
lated energy  of  the  opposition,  was  that  of  the 
new  process  of  manufacturing  rice  ;  and  inas- 
much as  it  involves  the  principles  in  a  very 
large  class  of  processes  for  acquiring  objects 
with  less  labor,  and  marks  the  overthrow  of 
most  of  the  errors  concerning  economic  matters 
so  common  with  the  people  up  to  that  time, 
a  detailed  history  of  the  conflict  in  all  its  bear- 
ings will  be  given. 


66  THE    RICE    MILLS 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE   RICE   MILLS 

It  was  of  course  general  knowledge  that  the 
chemical  composition  of  rice  was  principally 
starch,  nitrogenous  matter  and  water.  Starch 
is  composed  of  the  elements  Hydrogen,  Oxygen 
and  Carbon,  united  or  combined  in  certain 
proportions,  or  as  the  specialists  express  it, 
Starch=Ci2  Hio  Oio.  As  the  two  elements 
Hydrogen  and  Oxygen  compose  water,  our 
starch  is  seen  to  be  merely  Carbon  and  water. 
The  principal  element  in  coal,  wood  and 
vegetable  matter  generally,  is  Carbon.  The 
principal  element  of  air  is  Nitrogen.  There- 
fore, aside  from  a  few  minor  parts, such  as  fatty 
matter  and  ash,  there  was  an  abundance  of  all 
the  elements  of  rice  in  the    Pacific    Northwest. 

But  the  wonder  begins  with  the  invention  of 
the  so-called  rice  machine,  which  was  a 
mechanical  device  for  so  combining  the  carbon- 
iferous products  of  the    country    with    air    and 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  67 

water  as  to  produce  rice  with  much  less  expen- 
diture of  labor  than  the  old  fashioned  way  of 
growing  it.  Nor  was  the  inventor  of  the 
machine  inclined  to  satisfy  the  curiosity  of  the 
people  by  explaining  its  operations  or  making 
public  its  principles.  On  the  contrary,  on 
account  of  certain  decisions  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  the  inventor  feared 
that  a  patent  would  not  hold  by  reason  of  its 
being  merely  an  application  of  known  principles 
to  known  matter  in  a  perfectly  simple  and 
natural  manner.  Therefore,  to  avoid  any 
question,  he  decided  to  keep  his  process  a  pro- 
found secret,  and  for  this  purpose,  he  resolved 
upon  the  plan  of  operating  his  machines  in 
some  hidden  retreat  where  no  one  might  dis- 
cover them. 

Away  over  on  Hood's  Canal,  the  loneliest 
and  most  secluded  of  all  the  arms  of  Puget 
Sound,  where  it  washes  the  western  base  of 
the  wild  Olympics,  was  a  hidden  cove  appar- 
ently shut  in  by  the  mountain's  foot  hills, 
arising  perpendicularly  on  every  side  and  all 
covered  with  such  a  growth  of  forest  and 
vegetation  as  only  the  Sound  country  knows. 
The  entrance  to  this  cove  was  almost  completely 
concealed  from  the  outside  world.  In  passing 
along  the  canal,  one  observed  nothing  but  a 
slight  indenture  in  the    shore,  apparently   shut 


68  THE    RICE    MIL,,S 

in  on  every  side  like  thousands  of  other  little 
bays.  No  one  would  expect  to  proceed  any 
distance,  should  he  turn  into  it.  Nevertheless, 
he  who  left  his  regular  course  and  chanced  to 
enter  here,  found  in  store  such  a  surprise  as 
nowhere  eise  in  this  most  romantic  region.  For 
he  would  chase  the  end  of  the  bay,  carefully 
for  fear  of  colliding  with  it,  for  miles  among 
hills  and  forests,  through  the  sublimest  scenery 
faultlessly  mirrored  in  the  rich  sombre  water, 
new  scenes  swiftly  opening  up  before  and  as 
swiftly  closing  behind,  until  he  at  last  reached 
the  end. 

So  complete  was  the  deception  that,  in  the 
government  survey  of  the  land  in  this  locality, 
the  cove  escaped  the  notice  of  the  surveyors 
entirely.  On  account  of  the  rugged  character 
of  the  country,  the  survey  extended  at  farthest 
but  a  few  sections  inland,  and  the  entrance  to 
this  particular  cove  fell  in  such  part  of  the 
township  that  the  land  was  pretended  to  be 
surveyed  but  a  quarter  of  a  mile  back  from  the 
shore.  In  their  haste  to  get  out  of  the  wilder- 
ness, and  thinking  the  character  of  the  land  did 
not  deserve  a  closer  examination,  the  surveyors 
merely  marked  it  by  a  slight  indenture  in  the 
meander  line,  crossed  it  in  a  boat,  (contrary  to 
regulations, )  and  passed  on.  The  surveyed 
land  was  filed    upon    and    the  unsurveyed  land 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  69 

back  of  it  and  entirely  inclosing  the  cove  was 
settled  upon,  by  those  interested  in  the  manu- 
facture of  rice.  An  old  hulk,  swung  across  a 
narrow  place  a  short  distance  from,  but  out  of 
sight  of,  the  main  canal,  served  as  a  gate  to 
shut  out  all  intruders ;  and  as  the  place  was 
otherwise  inaccessible,  there  was  no  one  to 
interfere  with  the  operation,  nor  betray  the 
secret  process,  of  the  mysterious  rice  mills. 
For  greater  security  these  machines  were 
operated  in  the  hulls  of  ships  anchored  in  the 
cove,  absolutely  secure  from  storms  and  wild 
beasts,  and  most  important  of  all,  from  the 
occasional  appearance  of  an  explorer,  or  per- 
haps now  and  then  a  spy. 

That  was  all  the  world  knew  about  the 
mysterious  rice  machines,  and  thus  much  was 
ascertained  with  difficulty.  What  the  world 
did  well  know,  was  that  cargo  after  cargo  of 
coal  and  timber  was  shipped  from  every  port 
on  the  Sound  to  the  Metropolis  and  from  there 
to  the  mysterious  cove,  into  which  they  disap- 
peared, and  from  which  returned  cargo  after 
cargo  of  rice  so  perfectly  composed  and  sym- 
metrically molded  that  no  expert  could  tell  it 
from  the  natural.  This  new  industry  developed 
so  rapidly  that,  within  a  single  year,  actual 
enumeration  showed  20,000  men  in  round 
numbers  engaged  directly  and  indirectly  in  the 


70  THE    RICE    MILLS 

production  of  rice, and  the  number  was  increas- 
ing daily.  Only  a  few  of  these  were  employed 
at  the  mills  and  in  the  commerce  to  and  from 
the  mills.  The  others  were  engaged  at  the 
mine,  in  the  forest,  and  in  the  transportation 
of  the  products  to  the  Sound.  Investigation 
showed  those  men  to  be  in  a  most  thriving  con- 
dition. They  and  their  families  added  to  the 
Sound  country  more  than  a  hundred  thousand 
souls.  Then  there  were  also  the  capitalists, 
merchants,  professional  men  and  the  like,  with 
their  families,  who  derived  support  in  one  way 
or  another  from  this  same  industry.  Moreover, 
massive  railroads  were  built  from  the  mines 
and  forests  to  the  tide,  enormous  engines  and 
cars  were  constructed  and  powerful  machines 
were  employed,  by  which  products  were 
obtained  with  much  less  labor  and  hence  much 
cheaper.  The  large  amount  of  material  required 
permitted  the  application  of  the  various  econ- 
omies always  incident  to  production  o»  a  large 
scale,  and  the  general  market  price  was  sur- 
prisingly low.  The  effect  was  that  a  large  and 
profitable  trade  sprang  up  with  other  parts  of 
the  United  States  and  with  foreign  lands,  by 
reason  of  which  many  more  were  employed  in 
the  regular  trade  than  would  have  been  but  for 
the  rice  machines,  to  say  nothing  of  those 
engaged  in  that  special  industry.      Investigation 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  7 1 

showed  that  the  amount  of  labor  required  to 
produce  rice  by  the  new  process  was  only  about 
one-half  that  required  to  grow  it,  and  hence  it 
could  be  produced  at  one-half  its  former  price. 

Now,  rice  manufacture  was  at  this  time  the 
closest  imaginable  monopoly.  As  no  one  in 
all  the  nations  knew  the  secret,  the  inventor 
was  relieved  of  that  implacable  enemy  of  all 
monopoly — the  never-ceasing  action  of  uncon- 
trollable international  competition.  There  was 
no  occasion  for  combinations,  for  there  were 
none  to  compete  with  him  anywhere.  He 
enjoyed  more  security  than  a  patent  would 
afford  him,  for  when  a  poor,  industrious  inven- 
tor made  a  machine  which  attracted  attention 
because  of  its  usefulness,  the  moneyed  concerns 
in  the  industry  affected  usually  hired  second- 
class  mechanics  to  make  sufficient  changes  to 
avoid  the  law,  and  with  the  advantage  of  pos- 
session of  the  field  and  unlimited  resources, 
generally  forced  the  inventor  to  sell  out  for  a 
pittance,  and  thus  deprived  him  of  the  fruit  of 
his  toil. 

The  inventor  was  thus  able,  by  means  of  his 
peculiar  monopoly,  to  amass  unheard  of  riches 
had  he  desired  to  do  so.  But  why  should  he 
do  that?  In  a  few  years  it  must  go  to  the 
state  for  politicians  to  plot  against,  or  to  cer- 
tain individuals   to    curse    their    children    and 


72  THE    RICE    MILLS 

their  children's  children,  or  to  the  charity  of 
an  unborn  generation.  No  subsequent  genera- 
tion would  so  much  need  charity.  Why  should 
he  all  his  life  draw  upon  his  fellow  men,  his 
friends  and  neighbors,  whatever  they  may  have 
been  to  him,  the  nearest  and  dearest  there 
would  ever  be,  and  repay  to  those  whom  he  never 
knew,  and  who  knew  him  only  in  fame?  Where 
was  the  mere  policy  of  making  a  debtor  of 
himself  all  his  life?  What  good  is  credit  to  a 
dead  man?  In  response  to  his  great  nature, 
rather  than  by  reason  of  policy,  however,  did 
he  make  himself  trustee  of  his  own  monopoly 
for  the  benefit  of  his  people.  Instead  of 
placing  rice  on  the  market  at  a  price  just  low 
enough  to  undersell  other  producers,  and  keep- 
ing the  difference  between  that  price  and  the 
actual  cost,  he  supplied  the  whole  country  at 
a  price  correspondent  to  the  quantity  and  nature 
of  the  labor  in  its  production,  as  under  the 
law  of  competition.  The  result  was  that  rice 
sold  everywhere  in  the  United  States  at  one- 
half  its  former  price. 


OF   PORT   MYSTERY  73 


CHAPTER  VIII 

THE   FIRST  GREAT  INDUSTRIAL  CONFLICT 

As  soon  as  the  influence  of  the  cheap  rice 
began  to  be  felt  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  a  vigor- 
ous protest  was  interposed  against  this  "un- 
natural and  unholy  compound.  "  Probably  no 
more  comprehensive,  and  at  the  same  time 
concise,  account  of  this  most  important  industrial 
conflict  can  be  given, than  that  contained  in  the 
contemporaneous  records  of  the  Congrsss  of 
the  United  States.  Every  idea,  argument  and 
movement  which  rose  to  such  prominence  as 
to  warrant  its  mention  here,  found  its  way  into 
this  record.  Therefore,  much  of  the  record 
relating  to  this  subject  will  be  set  forth  at 
length. 

The  portentous  rumblings  of  discontent  began 
to  be  heard  soon  after  the  new  machines  were 
put  into  successful  operation,  and  rapidly 
spread  with  continually    increasing    fury,  until 


74  THE    RICE    MILLS 

the  storm  broke  forth  in  the  form  of  a  petition 
to  the  United  States  Senate  as  follows  : 

"To    the    honorable    Senate    of    the    United 
States : 

"The  petition  of  the  undersigned  plantation 
hands  and  others  engaged  in  the  production, 
securing  and  marketing  of  rice  throughout  the 
Southern  Atlantic  and  Gulf  States  of  the  union, 
respectfully  shows :  That  there  are  now  en- 
gaged in  the  rice  culture  in  the  south-eastern 
states  twenty  thousand  men  who  have  long 
been,  and  who  are  now,  so  employed,  without 
any  other  livelihood  ;  that  the  average  price  of 
rice  prevailing  for  the  last  ten  years  has  paid 
hardly  as  much  as  has  been  paid  for  similar 
labor  in  other  employments  and  has  been  barely 
sufficient  to  support  the  laborers  and  their 
families  ;  that  notwithstanding  this,  one  Robert 
Landaner  has  invented  some  sort  of  infernal 
machine  whereby  he  is  enabled  to  make  rice 
by  some  art  of  magic  to  your  petitioners  un- 
known ;  that  such  rice  is  made  of  poisonous  min- 
erals and  gases  and  various  unknown  and  un- 
clean substances  injurious  to  the  human  health 
and  system  ;  that  this  rice  is  so  prepared  and 
molded  that  it  cannot  be  distinguished  from 
the  genuine,  and  is  put  upon  the  markets  to 
compete,  and  does  compete,  with  the  natural 
grown  rice  ;  that  said  spurious  article  can  be 
produced  with  much  less  labor  than  the  real, 
to-wit :  one  half  as  much,  as  your  petitioners 
are  informed  and  believe  ;  that  in  consequence 
thereof  the  manufacturer  is  enabled  to  and  does 
sell  his  product  at  one-half  the  price   at   which 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  75 

your  petitioners  are  able  to  sell  theirs  :  that  the 
sale  of  this  bogus  rice  works  a  fraud  on  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  to  the  irreparable 
injury  of  your  petitioners;  that  if  said  manu- 
facturer is  permitted  to  continue  his  deceptive 
practices,  it  will  be  impossible  for  your  peti- 
tioners to  maintain  the  present  price  of  rice, 
but  the  same  will  necessarily  fall  at  least  one- 
half,  whereby  the  occupation  of  your  petitioners 
will  be  rendered  unprofitable,  and  your  peti- 
tioners compelled  to  cease  raising  rice  and  seek 
employment  in  other  branches  of  industry, 
already  over-crowded  ;  that  the  effect  will  be 
to  beat  down  the  wages  in  such  industries  to 
the  permanent  injury  of  the  whole  mass  of 
wage-workers  in  this  country.  Wherefore,  your 
petitioners  pray  that  your  honorable  body  may 
investigate  the  premises  and  enact  proper 
legislation  prohibiting  the  further  manufacture 
of  spurious  rice,  or  impose  upon  it  such  a  tax 
as,  added  to  the  actual  cost  of  its  production, 
will  raise  its  price  so  that  your  petitioners 
may  successfully  compete  with  it  in  the 
markets  of  the  country,  and  thus  be  furnished 
with  employment. " 

The  foregoing  petition  was  signed  by  one 
Edward  Davis,  and  about  7,000  others, 
residents  of  a  dozen  southern  states,  mostly  of 
the  Carolinas,  Georgia,  Florida  and  Louisiana. 
There  were  also  numerous  resolutions,  memor- 
ials and  petitions  on  the  same  subject  preferred 
by  various  industrial  organizations  throughout 
the  whole  country.     Several  hundred  Granges, 


76  THE    RICE    MILLS 

Alliances  and  other  local  farmers'  organizations 
and  hundreds  of  Knights  of  Labor  Assemblies, 
Trades  Unions,  etc.,  sent  in  resolutions  of 
their  respective  organizations,  all  of  about  the 
same  tenor. 

The  whole  subject,  together  with  all  the 
petitions,  resolutions,  etc,  was  referred  to  a 
select  committee,  with  directions  to  report  by 
bill  or  otherwise  as  they  might  be  advised. 
The  facts  were  fully  investigated,  and,  after 
proper  hearing  and  investigation,  the  com- 
mittee made  the  following  report : 

"Your  Committee,  to  whom  was  referred  the 
petition  of  Edward  Davis  and  7,000  others, 
relating  to  the  rice  industry,  having  fully 
investigated  and  considered  the  matter,  beg 
leave  to  submit  the  following  report. 

"We  find  the  following  facts  : 

"1.  One  Robert  Landaner,  of  the  State  of 
Washington,  has  invented  or  discovered  a 
process  by  which  he  is  able  to  manufacture  rice 
from  various  substances  obtained  in  that  region, 
the  principal  of  which  are  coal  and  wood,  with 
an  expenditure  of  about  one-half  the  labor 
necessary  to  grow  it. 

"2.  We  have  caused  the  rice  thus  manufac- 
tured to  be  put  to'  every  conceivable  test,  and 
we  believe  there  is  no  means  known  to  modern 
science  by  which  the  artificial  can  be  distin- 
guished from  the  natural.  We  have  seen  and 
eaten  many  specimens  of  it, and  have  taken  the 
stat&ments  of  many  others  who  have  made  it  a 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  77 

regular  article  of  food,  and  our  investigation 
shows  that  the  artificial  is  as  wholesome  and 
nutritious  as  the  natural. 

"3.  There  are  now  in  the  Pacific  Northwest, 
about  20,000  men  engaged  in  the  rice  industry. 

"4.  The  manufacturer  of  the  rice  has  put 
the  product  upon  the  market  at  a  price  sufficient 
to  cover  a  fair  reward  to  the  labor  and  capital 
employed,  and  the  usual  profits  of  such  enter- 
prises ;  which  places  it  at  about  one-half  the 
price  heretofore  existing,  and  at  which  natural 
rice  must  be  sold  in  order  to  secure  to  the 
labor  and  capital  employed  in  its  production, 
the  usual  rate  of  wages  and  interest. 

"5.  At  the  present  rate  of  manufacturing 
there  will  be  placed  upon  the  market  this  year 
at  least  twice  as  much  rice  as  before,  and 
perhaps  more  will  be  demanded. 

"6.  If  the  manufacturer  of  rice  is  permitted 
to  prosecute  his  business  without  interference, 
the  rice  growers  must  accept  one-half  their 
previous  income  or  go  out  of  the  business. 

"After  hearing  the  arguments  in  favor  of 
interference  of  every  one  who  has  asked  to  be 
heard, and  upon  full  consideration  of  the  above 
facts,  your  committee  are  of  the  opinion  that 
the  Congress  of  the  United  States  has  no  right 
under  the  constitution  to  shield  one  industry 
from  the  effect  of  the  competition  of  another. 
It  could,  perhaps,  usurp  the  power  under  its 
authority  to  levy  taxes,  but  we  are  of  opinion 
that  it  would  not  be  good  policy,  good  economy 
or  good  government.  We  believe  the  operation 
of  these  rice  machines  cannot  have    the    effect 


78  THE    RICE    MILLS 

of   ultimately     disemploying   any   one,    or    of 

reducing  wages;  for — 

"1.  The  facts  show  that  while  20,000  men 
will  in  the  first  instance  be  disemployed  in  the 
southeast,  yet  the  operation  of  the  agency 
which  brings  it  about,  requires  the  employ- 
ment of  an  equal  number  who  would  not  other- 
wise be  so  employed.  This  merely  shifts  labor 
from  one  industry  to  another,  but  does  not 
result  in  increasing  the  number  of  the  unem- 
ployed, and  cannot  have  any  tendency  to 
reduce  wages. 

"2.  This  very  reduction  in  the  price  of  rice 
is  an  increase  in  the  wages  of  every  one  who 
uses  it  throughout  the  whole  land.  Wages 
are  measured,  not  by  arbitrary  signs  and  high- 
sounding  numerals,  but  by  the  number  of 
desire-satisfying  objects  procurable  with  one's 
labor.  Though  a  man  be  not  in  any  manner 
connected  with  the  rice  industry — merely  a 
consumer — the  reduction  enables  him  to  pro- 
cure as  much  rice  as  before,  and  have  one-half 
of  the  product  of  his  own  labor,  theretofore 
required  to  be  given  in  exchange  for  his  rice, 
left.  That  is  a  net  increase  in  his  wages,  for 
he  gets  the  same  objects  as  before  and  has  left 
a  certain  amount  of  his  own  produce  which  he 
can  exchange  for  other  objects  to  make  his 
labor  more  effective  or  satisfy  other  desires. 
Therefore,  though  no  more  rice  were  produced 
than  before,  and  consequently,  by  reason  of 
the  doubled  productive  power  of  labor,  10,000 
men  were  able  to  supply  the  country's  demand 
for  rice,  thus  disemploying  the  other  10,000 
now     employed,    who    would    compete    in  the 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  79 

other  industries  and  beat  down  the  wages,  as 
it  is  expressed,  still,  this  reduction  in  wages 
would  be  more  than  counter-balanced  by  the 
increase  resulting  from  the  cheapening  of  rice. 
However,  we  find  that  even  more  than  twice 
the  amount  of  rice  would  be  demanded,  which 
would  not  only  not  disemploy  any  one  now 
employed,  but  would  create  a  positive  demand 
for  more  laborers  in  the  production  of  rice. 
And  this,  in  connection  with  the  increase  of 
wages  by  reduction  of  the  price  of  rice,  would 
very  surely  and  materially  increase  the  general 
rate  of  wages  throughout  the  country. 

"3.  No  one,  in  any  event,  could  be  thrown 
out  of  employment.  Ordinarily  the  laborer 
uses  but  an  exceedingly  small  portion  of  the 
things  he  produces.  He  works  for  the  power 
they  give  him  of  procuring  the  products  of  the 
labor  of  others  by  exchange.  This  exchange 
of  products  is  made  on  the  basis  of  the  quantity 
of  labor  entering  into  them  respectively.  If, 
by  the  use  of  some  new  machine  or  contrivance, 
a  laborer  is  enabled  to  produce  a  pound  of  rice 
in  one-half  the  time  formerly  required,  its 
exchange  value  will  fall  one-half  and  another 
laborer  will  be  able  to  procure  it  by  giving  in 
exchange  one-half  of  what  he  was  formerly 
required  to  give.  The  other  half  he  would 
exchange  for  as  much  additional  rice  or  for 
labor  in  some  other  form  as  would  employ  all 
the  labor  before  engaged  in  producing  rice  in 
the  old  way.  In  other  words,  it  would  be  a 
day's  work  for  a  day's  work  just  as  before,  only 
in  the  one  case  there  would  be  twice  as  much 
exchanged  and  twice  as  many   desires   satisfied 


80  THE    RICE    MILLS 

as  in  the  other.  So  far  as  the  object  of  toil  is 
to  secure  rice,  wages  would  manifestly  be 
doubled,  and  the  same  would  be  true  whatever 
product  of  labor  this  surplus  is  exchanged  for, 
after  paying  one-half  for  the  usual  quantity  of 
rice. 

"In  conclusion,  your  committee  are  unani- 
mously of  opinion  that  by  the  introduction  and 
fullest  use  of  the  rice  machines,  wages  will  be 
higher  and  labor  better  employed.  We  have 
considered  this  question  solely  in  its  economic 
bearing.  The  conclusion  reached  obviates  any 
remarks  in  behalf  of  charity  and  humanity. 
That  these  very  rice  machines  will  be  the 
means  of  furnishing  a  most  wholesome  article 
of  food  to  the  poor,  will  satisfy  the  hunger  and 
bring  comfort  to  many  suffering  mortals  in  the 
great  cities  of  our  land,  cannot  escape  the  most 
thoughtless  person.  The  principle  involved 
— of  procuring  objects  with  the  least  Jabor — is 
at  the  foundation  of  all  our  progress.  It  has 
advanced  us  from  a  condition  of  savagery  to 
what  we  now  are,  and  given  to  us  all  that 
makes  life  worth  living.  We  therefore  report 
in  favor  of  the  unlimited  operation  of  the  rice 
machines,  and  recommend  the  speedy  exten- 
sion of  the  patent  laws  to  cover  this  new  pro- 
cess of  rice  manufacture,  to  the  end  that  the 
public  may  be  secure  against  the  loss  of  so 
valuable  a  secret,  and  have  the  benefit  of  the 
principles  involved  for  further  industrial 
development  and  greater  human  happiness." 

The  report  of  the  "committee  was  received 
and  adopted  by  the  Senate  with   little   opposi- 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  8 1 

tion.  Its  publication  throughout  the  country' 
created  great  commotion.  Low  mutterings 
and  grumblings  arose  from  every  locality. 
Charges  of  deserting  the  cause  of  the  people, 
etc.,  were  made  in  various  quarters.  Threats 
of  retiring  members  to  private  life,  and  the 
like,  were  common.  But  the  committee  had 
been  wise  enough  to  state  the  facts  and  their 
reasoning  as  a  part  of  their  report.  The  facts 
were  indisputable  and  the  reasoning  invincible. 
The  attempts  at  hostile  demonstration  and 
united  opposition  were  lamentable  failures. 
Industry  soon  adjusted  itself  on  a  natural  and 
profitable  basis  according  to  the  new  condition 
of  things,  and  every  one  was  satisfied.  The 
world  had  made  a  mighty  stride  forward. 

During  all  the  time  of  this  agitation,  Lan- 
daner  kept  on  discovering,  inventing  and 
enlarging.  The  phenomenal  success  of  the 
rice  machine,  the  power  to  amass  fortune,  the 
universal  esteem,  the  general  admiration  and 
the  sometimes  almost  reverence  shown  him  by 
his  fellow  citizens,  aroused  no  vanity,  no  con- 
ceitedness,  nor  did  it  distract  him  in  the  least 
from  the  pursuit  of  his  mission  of  humanity. 
He  applied  himself  with  all  the  more  diligence. 
He  invented  hundreds  of  devices  and  products 
useful  to  men,  and  discovered  processes  by 
which    common  articles  were  acquired  with    far 

6 


82  THE    RICE    MILLS 

less  labor.  For  instance,  wool,  taken  to  the 
mysterious  cove,  would  be  returned  in  all  its 
various  finished  products,  at  wonderfully  cheap 
prices  and  in  quantities  of  greater  actual  weight 
than  the  raw  material  itself ;  proving  conclu- 
sively that  a  substitute  for  natural  wool  had 
been  discovered  which  comprised  an  important 
part  of  the  manufactured  article,  though,  here 
again,  it  was  utterly  impossible  to  distinguish 
the  natural  from  the  artificial.  Many  of  the 
finest  products  in  various  lines  came  from  the 
mills  at  Port  Mystery.  Carpets,  lace,  and 
other  products  of  the  loom,  most  excellent 
cutlery  and  the  like,  were  produced  at  aston- 
ishingly low  figures  ;  showing  that  the  genius  of 
the  great  inventor  was  limited  by  neither 
existing  substances  nor  inventions.  It  seemed 
a  pity  that  for  hundreds  of  years  industry 
should  progress  so  slowly,  sacrificing  a  life  for 
each  step,  with  squalor  and  misery  on  every 
hand,  when  here  came  a  man  with  the  genius 
of  all  times  and  nations,  who  gave  to  his 
people  centuries  of  progress,  spared  them  ages 
of  irksome  toil  and  saved  them  millions  of 
years  of  time.  No  wonder  the  whole  nation 
worshipped  him.  The  gratitude  of  the  Pacific 
Northwest  was  quite  beyond  expression.  This 
region  above  all  others  profited  by  his  genius. 
The  attention  of  the  whole  world  was  attracted 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  83 

to  it.  Its  wonderful  resources  insured  confi- 
dence and  stability.  Emigrants  poured  in  by 
the  millions.  All  the  laws,  customs  and  insti- 
tutions favored  freedom  and  independence  of 
industrial  action.  Hundreds  of  millions  of 
dollars  came  into  the  country  from  the  other 
states  and  from  the  old  world.  Occasionally, 
to  be  sure,  some  misguided  champion  of  the 
cause  of  the  people  would  protest  against  this, 
because  the  interest  was  withdrawn  from  the 
country  and  "impoverished"  it.  But  the 
people  knew  well  when  they  borrowed  the 
wealth  that  by  its  use  their  labor  would  produce 
enough  more  to  pay  the  accrued  interest  and 
leave  them  a  good  profit  beside.  Otherwise 
they  did  not  borrow.  The  capital,  therefore, 
added  to  the  wealth  of  the  country  the  amount 
by  which  it  "impoverished"  it  and  a  handsome 
profit  beside. 


84  THE    MCE    MILLS 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE    INLAND    EMPIRE 

The  great  "Inland  Empire,"  watered  by  the 
Columbia  and  its  tributaries,  was  completely 
transformed.  The  time  was  when  this  was 
looked  upon  as  a  worthless  desert.  The  soil 
was  admitted  to  be  prolific,  but  how  could 
this  vast  region  ever  be  irrigated?  The  subject 
early  attracted  the  attention  of  engineers,  and 
when  the  present  system  of  irrigation  was 
planned,  there  was  no  lack  of  funds  to  carry  it 
into  execution. 

A  most  vigorous  opposition  was  at  once 
offered  by  the  inhabitants  along  the  banks  of 
the  rivers.  The  most  persistent  came  from 
those  who  owned  paper  villages  located  on  the 
streams  and  whose  little  speculations  would  be 
upset.  There  were  also  many  valuable  ranches 
on  the  low  land  along  the  river  bank  and  in 
places  easily  irrigable  that  would  be  continually 
submerged  ;  indeed  the  net  work  of  lakes,  bays 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  g«- 

and  channels  which  furnishes    the    most    com- 
plete   and    economic    system    of    local    inland 
communication  ever    known,   covers    the    most 
valuable  land  of  old.     Although  the  full   value 
of  their  holdings  was  secured  to  the  owners,  it 
took     the    governmental     power    of     eminent 
domain  to  acquire  their  title.      The  fact  that  the 
gigantic  dam  at  the    gorge    of    the    Columbia, 
through  the  mountains,  by  which  the  river  was 
thrown  back  on    the    arid    region,    fell    within 
three  jurisdictions,  that  of    the  United    States 
over  navigable  rivers  and  those  of  the  states  of 
Washington  and  Oregon,  made  further  trouble 
and  delay.     There  was  really   no    objection  on 
the  part  of    any    one    except    that    the    others 
thought  it  to  their  advantage  and    favored    if 
which  in  the  minds  of  the  men  in  authority   in 
those  days,  was  sufficient  evidence  that  it   was 
to  their  disadvantage,  and  therefore   they  were 
against  it.      This  contention  was  finally  settled 
the  dam  was  built  and  the  water  set  back.     At 
first  the  results  of  the  enterprise  were   a    little 
discouraging.      It  took  several  seasons  of  flood- 
ing to  get  the  whole  region  into  a    moist    con- 
dition and  establish  the  complete  success  of  the 
enterprise.      By    no    means    the    least     of    the 
causes  of  financial  success  lies  in    the  enforced 
economies  of  the  system,  which  consist  merely 
in  the  application  to  agriculture  of    the  princi- 


86  THE    RICE    MILLS 

pies  all  along  employed  in  other  industries. 
The  water  in  the  valley  of  the  Columbia  was 
maintained  throughout  the  summer  at  such 
height  as  would  leave  dry  enough  for  cultivation 
the  lowest  general  level  of  the  valley.  What- 
ever land  fell  below  such  level,  became  perma- 
nent lakes  and  waterways.  Immediately  upon 
shutting  the  gates  about  the  first  of  October, 
the  great  river  began  to  overflow  the  lowest 
land  under  cultivation.  Therefore,  it  became 
necessary  to  harvest  and  remove  crops  as 
railroads  are  built ;  that  is,  with  a  large  force 
of  skilled  men,  each  performing  his  particular 
duty,  and  all  assisted  with  every  aid  that  wealth 
could  furnish.  The  crews  traveled  from  place 
to  place  on  floating  crafts,  combining  the 
properties,  firstly  of  locomotion,  secondly  of 
several  harvesting  machines.  Thus,  when  the 
water  reached  a  field  of  grain  the  "harvester" 
approached  it  until  it  ran  aground.  Then  a 
light,  jointed  aluminium  railroad  was  reeled 
out  from  the  boat  and  an  electric  railroad 
established,  which  was  shifted  around  the  field 
at  pleasure.  Upon  this  railroad  the  products  of 
the  field  were  brought  in  their  roughest  state 
to  the  boat,  where  they  were  thrashed,  cleaned 
pressed,  etc.,  according  to  the  necessities  of 
the  case.  They  were  then  carried  on  small 
boats  to  the  store-houses.     If,  in  securing    the 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  87 

crop,  power  could  be  economically  applied,  it 
was  only  necessary  to  spin  out  a  wire  and 
attach  an  electric  motor  to  the  end,  and  the 
large  engines  on  the  boat  did  the  rest.  When 
a  crop  required  attention  at  a  certain  stage  of 
its  development,  such  as  hay  and  grain,  it  was 
cut  and  left  in  heaps  in  its  crudest  condition 
until  the  harvest  boat  came.  There  was  no 
danger  from  storms  or  destructive  agencies. 
Nearly  all  the  work  of  harvesting  was  left  for 
the  harvester. 

The  whole  population  of  the  country  lived  in 
the  cities,  which  were  built  where  they  were 
accessible  by  water  the  year  round.  There 
were  vast  stables,  store-houses,  mills,  factories 
and  work-shops  where  the  work  of  the  com- 
munity was  done  under  most  favorable  circum- 
stances. It  is  astonishing  how  much  toil  was 
saved  by  the  application  of  the  ordinary 
economies  under  this  system.  It  has  been 
estimated  that  a  member  of  one  of  these  com- 
munities produced  from  three  to  three-and-a- 
half  times  as  much  per  hour  of  work,  with  less 
physical  exhaustion,  than  a  farmer  under  the 
individual  system  with  all  its  traveling,  handling, 
hauling  and  walking  to  and  fro,  and  its  cutting, 
lifting  and  digging  by  physical  strength. 

In  the  Spring,  when  the  water  had  been 
collected  for  nearly    half  a  year,  and  was  at  its 


88  THE    RICE    MILLS 

highest,  it  did  not,  by  any  means,  cover  all  the 
land.  The  larger  part  of  it  was  never  sub- 
merged, but  was  rendered  abundantly  moist 
by  the  presence  of  the  large  bodies  of  water 
collected  in  the  basins  during  the  flooding 
season  and  used  for  irrigation  during  the  sum- 
mer, as  well  as  by  the  many  permanent  lakes 
and  channels.  Nevertheless,  in  every  part  of 
the  country  the  same  system  prevailed.  The 
people  lived  in  villages  and  took  advantage  of 
the  economies  of  the  labor-saving  machinery 
and  the  skill  incident  to  division  of  labor. 
The  practical  illustration  to  the  people  of  the 
benefit  to  them  of  saving  labor,  put  an  end  to 
most  of  the  erroneous  notions  which  prevailed 
to  a  much  later  day  in  other  places. 

Inasmuch  as  the  ranchers  possessed  all  the 
benefits  and  advantages  of  city  life,  and 
especially,  inasmuch  as  the  work  was  performed 
mostly  by  machinery,  relieving  them  very 
largely  from  the  irksomeness  of  toil,  they  all 
worked  their  own  ranches,  taking  great  pride 
and  pleasure  in  it.  There  was  no  great  mental 
strain,  none  of  the  nervousness  and  madness 
of  speculation,  nor  the  cares  and  anxieties  of 
striving  for  or  managing  great  fortunes.  A 
general  satisfaction  grew  out  of  their  equality, 
for  no  one  was  enormously  rich,  and  no  one 
poor.      The  metropolis    of  the    Inland    Empire 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  89 

was  the  home  of  the  wealthiest  ranchers  and 
of  the  great  traders.  These  latter  took  on  the 
disposition  of  their  environments.  They  were 
not  crafty  nor  overreaching.  The  climate  was 
delightful  and  many  made  their  homes  there  to 
avoid  ceaseless  strife  and  contention.  It  grad- 
ually grew  into  an  enormous  city,  where  poverty 
was  almost  unknown  and  the  average  wealth 
of  whose  citizens  was  higher  than  that  of  any 
other  community  in  the  world.  As  might  be 
infered  from  these  conditions,  the  average 
intelligence  of  the  whole  region  was  much 
higher  than  elsewhere,  and,  of  course,  the 
resulting  average  of  happiness  was  greater. 
Its  metropolis  became  the  brightest,  gayest  and 
happiest  of  all  cities. 


go  THE    RICE    MILLS 


CHAPTER    X 

THE   SECOND   PERIOD   OF  RAPID   GROWTH 

Cross  over  the  Cascades  to  western  Washing- 
ton and  Oregon,  and  quite  a  different  picture 
presents  itself.  Here  is  a  cosmopolitan  air. 
The  shipping  of  the  world  crowded  the  Sound. 
Grave  problems  weighed  men's  minds.  Every- 
where was  the  fierce  strife  for  riches.  Every 
industry  was  developed  to  its  fullest  extent. 
Everybody  was  bus)-. 

The  great  metropolis  was  the  center  of  all 
this  activity.  It  was  practically  at  the  head 
of  navigation  of  the  world's  greatest  harbor. 
Here  centred  the  four  great  trans-continental 
railway  systems  of  the  Nineteenthcentury,all  but 
one  of  which  here  first  struck  the  sea.  Although 
this  one  had  its  ocean  terminus  at  another  port, 
its  influence  in  determining  the  location  of  the 
Great  Metropolis  deserves  mention.  The  line 
was  built  by  foreigners,  through  a  foreign 
land,  while  the  others  were  constructed  within 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  gi 

the  United  States  by  Americans.  They  had 
many  common  stockholders,  and  between  the 
three  there  was  much  sympathy.  They  could 
enter  into  combinations,  charge  exorbitant 
rates,  discriminate  to  the  advantage  or  disad- 
vantage of  a  city,  and  in  many  instances,  all 
this  was  done.  The  foreign  road,  however, 
had  nothing  in  common  with  these.  A  fierce 
competition  early  set  in  between  it  and  the 
other  lines.  There  was  no  possibility  of  a  trust 
or  combine  or  pool.  The  distance  from  the 
main  ocean  terminal  of  this  system  to  the 
Great  Metropolis  was  less  than  150  miles  of 
Sound  navigation,  the  cheapest  and  best  there 
is.  Therefore,  the  distance  was  annihilated  in 
the  commercial  sense  of  freight  rates,  and  it, 
too,  practically  terminated  at  the  Metropolis. 
And  so  while  other  ocean  terminals  labored 
under  monopolistic  rates, the  Metropolis  enjoyed 
the  advantage  of  cheapness  resulting  from 
constant  competition.  In  addition,  it  was 
located  where  the  sea  reaches  farthest  inland 
to  intercept  the  approaching  lines  of  rails  and 
blight  their  further  usefulness  by  its  deadly 
touch  which  instantly  withers  their  life-sustain- 
ing elements— mileage  and  rates.  Again,  the 
Metropolis  had  an  advantage  over  the  cities  of 
other  harbors  on  the  coast  of  no  inconsiderable 
moment  in  this.     There  were  many    important 


92  THE    RICE    MILLS 

cities  on  the  Sound,  and  vessels  could  always 
get  a  cargo  here ;  if  not  in  one  port,  then  in 
several  or  all  the  ports.  With  the  assistance 
of  a  light  and  inexpensive  tug-boat,  a  ship 
could  go  without  ballast,  to  a  hundred  different 
ports.  Owners  had  no  difficulty  in  securing 
charters  for  their  vessels  without  delay. 

Such  were  the  advantages  which  gave  to  the 
Metropolis  the  start  from  which  she  has  grown 
to  such  enormous  proportions.  The  impetus 
to  trade  given  by  the  operations  at  Port  Mys- 
tery led  to  the  establishment  of  many  industries 
which  would  otherwise  never  have  been  heard 
of.  Although  the  commerce  of  the  nations  of 
the  Pacific  was  still  carried  on  mostly  with 
Europe,  a  goodly  part  of  it  passing  over  the 
great  trans-continental  line  through  the  British 
Possessions  in  North  America,  still  a  rapidly 
growing  and  exceedingly  profitable  trade  sprang 
up  between  those  nations  and  the  United  States. 
The  greatest  problem  of  the  time  with  the 
statesmen  was  how  to  get  control  of  this  trade 
without  detriment  to  the  public  welfare.  Trade 
with  some  of  the  nations  was  looked  upon  as 
advantageous  to  our  people,  with  other  nations, 
disadvantageous.  The  test  by  which  they 
distinguished  the  good  from  the  bad  is  extremely 
amusing,  to  say  the  least.  They  seemed  to 
think  that  if  we  gave  more  than  we  get    back, 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  93 

it  was  an  advantageous  trade ;  but  if  we  got 
more  than  we  gave,  it  was  disadvantageous  to 
our  merchants  or  to  the  public  or  to  somebody 
— perhaps  the  "statesmen"  themselves.  It 
was  loosely  stated  in  various  ways,  and  no  one 
seemed  able  to  locate  the  mischief  exactly. 
The  statesmen  kept  accounts  and  made  statis- 
tics of  our  trade  with  the  different  nations,  and 
permitted  and  encouraged  trades  with  those 
nations  to  whom  we  gave  more  than  we  got 
back,  as  they  supposed.  Of  course  this  was 
merely  a  play  with  figures.  Had  it  been  true, 
the  whole  nation  would  have  lost  the  amount 
of  the  excess  value  of  the  exports  over  the 
imports.  Exchanges  were  not  made  by  govern- 
ment nor  by  the  public,  but  by  our  individual 
merchants  with  the  foreign  individual  mer- 
chants ;  and  if  there  had  been  any  such  loss  it 
would  have  fallen  on  some  or  all  of  the  indi- 
viduals. Now  you  may  be  sure  that  the 
merchants  oJ  the  Metropolis  knew  their  busi- 
ness, and  did  not  send  away  more  than  they  got 
back,  nor  did  they  volunteer  to  take  upon 
themselves  any  loss  for  the  public  welfare. 
If  there  was  no  loss  in  the  individual,  there 
certainly  could  not  be  in  the  aggregate. 

There  was,  however,  no  occasion  for  com- 
plaint. Every  laborer  found  his  complement 
in  exchange,  every  product  its  taker.      Millions 


94  THE    RICE    MILLS 

of  people  came  to  the  new  industrial  center ; 
and  hence  the  city  that  so  eclipsed  even  great 
Chicago's  marvelous  growth.  That  it  was  only 
a  matter  of  time  when  it  would  be  the  principal 
city  of  the  hemisphere,  was  apparent  to  every 
one ;  and  to  the  far-sighted,  it  was  equally 
apparent  that  in  time  the  metropolis  of  the 
world  would  withdraw  from  its  proud  island 
home  already  west  of  the  main  land  of  the  Old 
World,  and  quietly  steal  across  the  Atlantic 
and  the  continent  of  North  America,  and  take 
up  its  abode  and  finally  establish  itself  in  Puget 
Sound. 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  Q, 


CHAPTER  XI 

THE   GREAT  AFFLICTION 

Right  in  the  midst   of    this    wonderful   pros 
penty  came  the  untimely    death  of    Landaner 
The  death  of  no  one  man    ever    before    caused 
such  general  lamentation.      No  other  man    was 
ever  looked  up    to    by    the    people  with    such 
genuine  personal    attachment,  such    feeling  of 
gratitude  for  blessings    bestowed    upon    them 
and  such  reverence  for  purity  and  unselfishness 
of  character.     Every  heart  was  sad  and  discon- 
solate.    The  whole  nation  went  into  mourning 
not  in  form  pursuant  to    public    proclamation' 
but  instinctively  and  involuntarily,  in  response 
to  the   demands    of    their    own    emotions.      In 
addition  to  all  this,  his  death  had  an  important 
industrial  bearing.      He  was  absolute    monarch 
of  the  industrial  world,  with  more  power   over 
the  happiness,  liberty  and    even    lives    of    the 
people  than  any  political  ruler  ever  had.      For 
however  complete    may    be    political    freedom 


96  THE    RICK    MILLS 

and  equality  under  the  law,  if  a  man  is  deprived 
an  opportunity  of  providing  the  necessities  of 
life.,  it  is  a  mockery.  Though  all  men  are 
born  free  and  equal,  when  one  comes  into  the 
world  inheriting  nothing  but  a  life  estate  in  the 
perpetual  injunction  to  "move  on,"  to  disobey 
which  is  to  become  a  trespasser  in  the  hands 
of  authority  or  charity,  subject  in  either  case 
to  forfeiture  of  manhood  ;  his  boasted  political 
equality  becomes  an  engine  of  vengeance, 
threatening  the  whole  social  fabric. 

The  industrial  control  of  man  has  always  had 
more  influence  upon  his  life,  liberty  and  hap- 
piness than  has  the  political  or  physical 
control.  Nearly  every  instance  of  shameless 
violence  of  the  right  to  life  or  personal  liberty, 
may  be  traced  either  mediately  or  immediately 
to  industrial  control  over  the  subject  as  the 
primary  cause  of  the  mischief;  and  it  matters 
little  whether  the  cause  is  executed  by  open 
violence,  or  is  permitted  to  execute  itself. 
With  all  our  boasted  political  advancement 
from  government  by  a  god,  then  a  descendant 
of  a  god,  then  a  god-appointed,  then  a  monarch 
who  imprisoned  and  beheaded  his  subject, 
forfeited  his  estate  and  corrupted  his  blood  in 
more  ways  than  one,  "by  his  consent,"  to  that 
form  of  government  in  which  the  subject  is 
sovereign  and  does  all  these  things  to  himself, 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  97 

the    cause    of    it   all    remains    the    same.     At 
the  end  of  the    nineteenth  century   there   were 
kings  and  princes,  dukes  and    lords,  serfs    and 
slaves  in  the    realm    of  industry    in    the    most 
enlightened  nations,  as  there  had  been  in  their 
politics  a  few  centuries    before.      Men    strutted 
up  and  down  the  avenues  of  industry    with    as 
much  security  of  their  financial  person  and    as 
much  power    over    the    industrial  (and    conse- 
quently, over  the  physical)  lives  and    liberties 
of  others,  as  the  lords  of  physical  force  had  on 
the  king's  highway    in    the    days    of    chivalry. 
The  danger  lay  in    the    sudden    realization    of 
their  condition  by  a  people    already    possessed 
of  political  equality  and  power.      The    rule    of 
a  good  monarch  is  the  best  government  known  ; 
the  rule    of    a    bad    one    would    be    disastrous 
among  such  a  people.     A  mighty  monarch  had 
fallen  whose  monopolies  gave  him  more  power 
than  was  ever  held  by    mortal    man.      No    one 
dreamed  of  such  a  catastrophe.     His  interest  in 
family  affairs  and    his    enjoyment  of    domestic 
life,  had  always  been  marked.      He  looked  upon 
the  institution  of  the  family  as  the  most  potent 
agency  for  the  peace  and  happiness  of  society. 
Yet  for  some  reason,  perhaps  his  constant  and 
intense  engagement  in  other    matters,     he  had 
never  married.     His    father    and    mother    were 

enjoying  the  declining  years  of    their    lives    in 
7 


98  THE    RICE    MILLS 

a  modest  way  upon  the  competence  long  before 
provided  by  him.  He  was  an  only  child.  His 
aged  father  and  mother  were  his  only  surviving 
relatives.  Who  would  succeed  to  his  power? 
What  would  become  of  his  estate?  Were  his 
secrets  known  to  others?  Would  his  death 
result  in  barring  or  checking  further  prosperity? 
Was  it  possible  to  avoid  a  panic?  A  thousand 
such  questions  flashed  upon  the  minds  of  the 
people.  Business  came  to  a  standstill.  Every- 
thing was  in  a  state  of  suspense  and  uncertainty. 

The  estimates  of  the  value  of  the  estate  by 
the  people  varied  as  widely  as  would  their 
statements  of  how  long  the  moon's  diameter 
appeared  to  them.  Beyond  a  few  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  the  ordinary  mind  is  without 
comparison,  and  draws  solely  upon  the  fancy. 
Some  used  nothing  less  than  billions  to  measure 
their  estimates.  The  most  conservative,  how- 
ever, managed  to  express  themselves  in  millions. 

By  far  the,most  important  property  was  the 
"plant"  at  Port  Mystery.  This  was  known  to 
have  netted  millions  in  the  few  years  of  its 
operation ;  but  that  was  nothing  to  what  it 
would  earn  if  operated  "for  all  that  was  in  it" 
or  "under  proper  management."  A  very 
moderate  expression  of  the  popular  estimate  of 
value  of  the  property  would  be  a  billion 
dollars. 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  gg 

The  next  item  of  importance  was  the  ship- 
ping. There  were  hundreds  of  vessels  engaged 
in  the  sound,  coastwise  and  foreign  trade, 
beside  those  used  in  the  commerce  with  Port 
Mystery.  The  shipping  altogether  was 
estimated  at  from  $50,000,000  to  $100,000,000. 
The  extent  of  Landaner's  interest,  however, 
was  not  known.  The  very  common  practice  of 
part-ownership  with  the  crew  had  been  early 
adopted,  and  all  the  vessels  were  supposed  to 
be  owned  in  that  way.  In  fact,  when  a  vessel 
was  first  sent  out,  Landaner  required  each 
mariner,  unless  he  was  a  young  man  who  had 
not  yet  had  an  opportunity  to  lay  by  anything, 
to  take  an  interest  in  the  vessel.  He  used  to 
declare  that  a  man  who,  having  an  opportunity 
to  save,  could  not  or  did  not  improve  it,  was  a 
dangerous  man  in  business.  Then  again,  he 
wanted  this  guarantee  of  the  man's  confidence 
and  ability.  But  Landaner  usually  kept  a 
controling  interest.  On  settlement,  all  those 
performing  labor  of  any  kind  in  connection  with 
the  business,  were  allowed  the  current  wages, 
commissions  or  salaries  for  the  services.  The 
usual  rate  of  interest  was  allowed  to  the  owners, 
whoever  they  might  be,  and  after  all  other 
expenses  were  paid,  whatever  was  left  was 
distributed  in  the  same  proportion  and  to  the 
same  persons  as  wages  and  interest  were  paid. 


IOO  THE    RICE    MILLS 

That  is,  the  knowledge,  skill  or  productive 
ability  of  those  performing  services  was  capi- 
talized. For  example,  in  order  to  accomplish 
a  certain  voyage  and  earn  certain  freight,  say 
$5,000,  it  was  necessary  to  contribute  capital 
the  value  of  the  use  of  which  for  the  time, 
according  to  the  regular  rate  of  interest,  was 
$1,000,  and  also  knowledge,  skill  and  labor 
the  value  of  the  use  of  which,  for  the  same 
time,  according  to  regular  rates  was  likewise 
$1,000.  This  would  make  labor  and  capital 
equal  partners  in  the  enterprise.  The  $5,000 
earned  would  be  applied  to  pay  wages,  interest 
and  other  incidental  expenses  first.  Suppose 
there  was  a  net  profit  of  $2,000.  This  would  be 
divided  between  the  two  partners  in  its  pro- 
duction, according  to  the  amount  each  contrib- 
uted, as  in  all  cases  of  ordinary  partnership. 
In  this  instance,  it  would  be  divided  equally  ; 
$1,000  to  labor  and  $1,000  to  capital.  And  so, 
again,  among  the  different  laborers  or  owners, 
the  $1,000  would  be  distributed  according  to 
the  relative  value  each  contributes. 

The  men  took  a  deep  personal  interest  in 
the  welfare  of  the  business  and  property  in- 
trusted to  their  charge,  and  the  best  possible 
service  was  secured  ;  yielding, no  doubt,  greater 
net  returns  to  Landaner  than  if  he  had  paid 
pure    wages    and    kept    all     the    profits.     The 


OF   PORT   MYSTERY  IOI 

seamen  came  to  be  a  very  thrifty  and  wealthy 
class  of  citizens,  and  in  some  instances,  were 
known  to  own  the  whole  of  the  ship  they  sailed, 
though  it  still  went  under  Landaner's  name. 
The  utmost  confidence  prevailed  between  him 
and  his  agents,  and  it  was  difficult  to  ascertain 
the  exact  facts  in  reference  to  this  property. 

The  next  item  in  order  of  importance  was 
cash,  credits,  bills  receivable,  etc.,  such  as 
would  naturally  be  expected  in  a  business  of 
that  magnitude ;  and  then  there  was  some  real 
estate  in  the  Metropolis,  consisting  of  valuable 
wharves,  coal-bunkers,  elevators,  freight  and 
store-houses,  loading  and  discharging  machinery, 
etc.,  a  large  office  building  and  other  minor 
property. 


102  THE    RICE    MILLS 


CHAPTER  XII 

THE   WILL 

The  second  day  after  Landaner's  death,  his 
will  was  presented  to  the  Probate  court  by  the 
former  general  manager  of  his  business  at  Port 
Mystery,  who  was  therein  named  as  executor, 
with  a  petition  that  it  be  admitted  to  probate 
and  that  letters  testamentary  issue  immediately. 
The  first  clause  of  the  will  was : 

"I  confirm  in  and  unto  the  part  owners 
therein,  in  proportion  to  their  respective 
interests,  all  my  right,  title  and  interest  in  and 
to  all  ships  and  shipping  of  whatsoever  kind 
and  wheresoever  situated,  together  with  the 
contents  thereof,  formerly  owned  by  me  and  by 
me  heretofore  given  to  said  part-owners. " 

No  one  ever  heard  of  this  extensive  gift  of 
his  entire  interest  in  his  shipping.  This 
incident  shows  what  excellent  discipline  and 
close  counsel  prevailed  throughout  the  whole 
service,  whether  connected  with    Port  Mystery 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  103 

or  not.     The  second  clause  of  the   will  was  as 
follows : 

"All  my  real  estate  at  Port  Mystery ;  also 
all  receipts,  processes,  principles,  together 
with  all  mills,  machines  and  instruments  for 
the  full  use  and  application  thereof,  except  the 
shipping,  materials  and  products  heretofore  dis- 
posed of  by  me  as  mentioned  in  the  first  clause 
of  this  will ;  also  the  good  will  of  all  my 
business  and  industrial  enterprises  at  Port 
Mystery,  I  give,  devise  and  bequeath  to  the 
state  of  Washington,  in  trust,  however,  to  be 
further  operated  and  extended  for  the  use  and 
benefit  of  the  people  of  said  state  and  for  the 
general  welfare  of  the  human  race. " 

His  money,  credits,  bills  receivable,  also  his 
real  estate  and  other  property  located  at  the 
Great  Metropolis,  he  devised  and  bequeathed 
to  the  city,  to  be  used  in  building  an  enormous 
"Home  of  Humanity"  according  to  the  spirit 
of  his  inclinations  in  that  behalf  expressed 
throughout  his  life,  and  under  the  direction  of 
certain  commissioners  whom  he  selected  as 
most  nearly  representing  his  ideas.  He  ap- 
pointed his  general  manager  his  sole  executor, 
directed  that  he  be  not  required  to  give  bond, 
and  then  closed  with  the  following  peculiar 
clause  : 

"I  wish  to  be  directly  and  quietly  buried, 
and  ask  that  my  monument  shall    be    a    single 


104  THE    RICE    MILLS 

block  of  granite  of  moderate  proportions  in- 
scribed only  with  my  name  and  the  date  and 
place  of  my  birth  and  of  my  death." 

For  four  days  and  until  the  people  clamored 
for  his  burial  "directly  and  quietly  as  he  has 
requested,"  he  lay  in  state  where  hundreds  of 
thousands  of  weeping  eyes  took  a  farewell  glance 
at  him  who  relieved  the  toiling  millions  of  so 
many  burdens  and  of  so  much  poverty  and 
miser)',  and  who  bestowed  upon  them  countless 
comforts  and  measureless  happiness.  The  last 
rites  over  his  remains  were  then  had,  perhaps 
not  altogether  "quietly,"  but  certainly  quietly, 
compared  with  what  they  would  otherwise  have 
been.  In  the  funeral  train  were  represented 
undesignedly,  but  fully,  the  entire  industrial 
force  of  the  community.  There  were  the  pub- 
lic officers  of  state  and  municipality,  the  very 
rich  and  the  ordinary  rich,  all  in  their  costly 
equipages ;  there  were  the  manufacturers, 
merchants  and  professional  men  in  the  humble 
carriages ;  and  there  were  long  solid  columns 
of  men  marching  by  unions,  assemblies, 
societies  and  organizations  of  every  trade  and 
calling.  No  one  seemed  to  take  notice  of  the 
immensity  of  the  train.  No  one  cared.  Each 
one's  eyes  and  thoughts  and  spirits  were  down- 
cast under  the  common  affliction  of  all.  On 
the  very  highest  point  of   the   spacious    burial 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  105 

ground,  even  where  it  reached  highest  up  the 
very  mountain  side,  so  that  conforming  to  his 
will,  they  still  might  have  Tacoma  for  his 
lasting  monument,  they  buried  the  mighty 
leader. 

The  public  impulse  was  to  erect  a  monu- 
ment mightier  than  the  Great  Pyramid  of 
Egypt,  to  mark  the  burial  spot  of  this  fallen 
greatness.  But  why  should  thousands  of  years 
of  life  and  toil  be  thus  sacrificed?  And  why 
should  others  be  burdened  with  the  support 
of  so  many  builders  in  addition  to  that  of 
themselves?  After  all  he  said  and  did,  and 
while  the  truth  of  his  teaching  was  unques- 
tioned, the  greater  power  of  his  life  was  all 
that  overcame  their  weakness  and  vanity.  He 
asked  that  his  monument  be  humble  and  simple. 
No  one  would  disregard  his  will.  Such  a 
monument  was  made  in  a  day  and  immediately 
placed  at  his  grave.  That  was  all  they  could 
do. 

The  publication  of  the  will  gave  the  people  a 
feeling  of  confidence,  and  although  general 
business  started  up  and  moved  on  pretty  much 
as  before,  the  people  were  slowly  reconciled 
to  their  loss.  It  was  the  sole  topic  of  conver- 
sation. Little  else  was  published  in  the  news- 
papers, or,  if  published,  read. 


Io6  THE    RICE    MILLS 


CHAPTER  XIII 

THE   MYSTERIES  OF  PORT  MYSTERY 

The  executor  received  letters  testamentary 
immediately  upon  proving  the  will,  and  pro- 
ceeded with  the  business  without  interruption. 

As  time  wore  on,  the  people  became  curious 
to  know  what  there  was  at  Port  Mystery.  The 
end  of  the  month  in  which  the  executor  was 
required  by  law  to  file  an  inventory  of  the 
estate  was  watched  with  a  great  deal  of  interest. 
When  that  time  arrived,  however,  the  executor 
applied  for  a  further  extension,  intimating  that 
because  of  the  magnitude  of  the  estate,  he  had 
been  unable  to  complete  the  inventory.  This 
heightened  the  curiosity  of  the  people.  "The 
estate  must  be  enormous,"  the}7  said.  What 
an  array  of  figures  they  did  use  to  express 
their  estimates  of  its  value.  Air  castles  were 
built  without  limit,  by  the  simple-minded,  and 
the  good  time  was  thought  by  many  to  be  at 
hand    when    government    would     support    the 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  107 

people  without  work.  The  court  at  once 
granted  an  extension  of  a  month.  When  this  time 
rolled  around,  the  executor  applied  for  a  further 
extension,  and  after  considerable  hesitation, 
another  month  was  granted,  with  a  few  advisory 
remarks  on  the  necessity  of  increasing  the  force 
in  order  to  close  it  up  and  relieve  the  court  from 
criticism.  The  people  had  begun  to  murmur 
and  suspect  and  intimate,  etc.  ;  but  everything 
was  being  done  according  to  law,  the  claims  of 
creditors  were  paid  as  soon  as  presented,  and 
no  one  had  any  right  to  interfere. 

By  the  end  of  the  second  extension,  there 
was  a  very  decided  diminution  in  the  amount  of 
commerce  with  Port  Mystery.  Where  ordina- 
rily a  vessel  arrived  every  few  hours,  there 
was  now  only  one  every  few  days.  The  people 
openly  charged  conspiracy.  The  newspapers 
suggested  that  the  public  officers  were  derelict 
in  duty  in  not  taking  charge  of  the  state's  great 
acquisition,  instead  of  allowing  it  to  be  spirited 
away  and  destroyed,  and  the  evidences  and 
proofs  of  the  secret  processes  effaced,  to  the 
irreparable  loss  of  the  people.  The  court, 
himself,  became  alarmed.  The  executor  ap- 
peared, and  asked  a  further  extension  of  time. 
The  court  peremptorily  refused  it  and  demanded 
the  inventory.  The  executor  said  it  was  nearly 
finished,  but  not  quite.     It  was  the  last  day  to 


108  THE    RICE    MILLS 

file  it,  unless  a  further  extension  was  granted, 
and  it  certainly  was  not  there.  It  was  lawful 
for  the  court  to  extend  the  time  one  more 
month,  but  he  refused  to  do  it.  There  was 
the  greatest  excitement  in  the  court  and 
throughout  the  city.  The  court  threatened  to 
revoke  the  letters,  and  demanded  bonds  to 
secure  the  state ;  but  the  executor  was  not  of 
the  kind  to  be  intimidated,  and  suggested  that 
if  the  court  thought  he  could  get  an  inventory 
quicker,  or  make  anything  in  any  way,  by  in- 
stituting a  proceeding  hostile  to  him,  he  was 
at  liberty  to  try  it.  The  whole  affair  was 
compromised — the  executor  agreeing  upon  his 
honor  to  file  a  full  and  exact  inventory  within 
a  week,  and  the  time  was  accordingly  extended 
seven  days.  But  such  a  general  fever  of  excite- 
ment was  never  known.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
the  executor  was  a  prudent  man,  and  conse- 
quently went  directly  to  the  steamer  awaiting 
him,  and  betook  himself  from  the  city  as  rapidly 
as  the  ordinary  methods  of  locomotion  per- 
mitted. 

At  the  end  of  the  week,  an  agent  of  the 
executor  appeared  before  the  court  in  private 
audience,  and  a  long  conversation  and  explana- 
tion were  had.  He  produced  what  was  said  to 
be  a  sworn  inventory.  The  court  received  it, 
filed  it,  put  it  in    his    pocket,  and    refused    to 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  IO9 

allow  any  one  to  see  it,  on  the  ground  of  public 
policy,  he  said.  He  immediately  appointed 
three  men,  prominent  in  public  affairs,  ap- 
praisers of  the  estate,  with  directions  to  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  Port  Mystery  and  make  a 
complete  inventory,  appraisal  and  report  of 
everything  they  found  there,  with  the  utmost 
dispatch,  giving  particular  attention  to  the 
interests  of  the  state.  Armed  with  the  authority 
of  the  law,  they  entered  the  mysterious  cove, 
and  demanded  admission  to  all  ships,  hulks 
and  water-craft  of  every  kind  therein,  the 
disclosure  of  all  the  secrets  connected  with  the 
various  industries  there  carried  on,  and  the 
exhibition  of  the  instrumentalities  whereby 
they  were  applied.  The  guards  received  them 
courteously,  and  extended  the  freedom  and 
hospitality  of  the  place.  A  light  messenger- 
boat  was  placed  at  their  disposal,  and  they 
proceeded  to  explore  the  wonders  of  the  place. 
After  turning  the  first  bend  in  the  narrow 
canal  in  which  they  were  proceeding,  they  met 
a  huge  barge  steaming  along  toward  the 
Metropolis.  It  was  unquestionably  one  of 
those  used  in  the  traffic  between  the  mills  and 
the  port  of  the  Metropolis,  with  which  they 
were  perfectly  familiar.  Nevertheless,  inas- 
much as  they  had  determined  to  make  a  record 
of  absolutely  everything    they    found,  whether 


110  THE    RICE    MILLS 

material  and  necessary  or  not,  so  as  to  escape 
any  possibility  of  criticism  or  censure  by  the 
public,  they  boarded  the  vessel  and  proceeded 
to  investigate  it.  It  was  what  it  appeared  to 
be ;  the  ordinary  steam  barge  laden  with  a 
general  cargo  of  merchandise,  such  as  came 
to  the  port  of  the  Metropolis  every  few  hours. 
They  examined  its  marine  documents, consisting 
of  the  usual  certificate  of  enrollment  and 
license, took  its  official  number,  tonnage  mark, 
name  and  port,  returned  to  their  own  craft  and 
each  went  its  way.  They  wound  their  way 
along  the  sinuous  course  of  the  inlet  mile  after 
mile,  through  the  foothills  rising  high  on  either 
side,  until  they  came  to  a  slight  basin  of  per- 
haps a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  diameter, and  almost 
completely  surrounded  by  perpendicular  walls 
of  rock.  Here  were  several  barges  like  that 
already  passed,  loaded  with  material  for  the 
mills  or  general  cargoes  for  the  Metropolis,  but 
with  this  peculiarity  :  none  of  them  had  a  name, 
number  or  papers.  They  were  all  of  exactly 
the  same  size  and  shape,  finished  and  furnished 
in  exactlj'  the  same  manner,  and  there  was  no 
way  of  telling  one  from  another.  There  were  a 
number  of  other  hulks  in  the  basin,  some  were 
used  for  living  purposes,  others  had  stored  in 
them  large  quantities  of  a  new  style  of  ships' 
spars  and  rigging,  and  still  others  were  used  as 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  III 

workshops,  for  the  manufacture  and  repair  of 
these  new-fangled  outfits.  This  was  all  there 
was  in  sight.  Where  were  the  rice  mills  and 
all  those  machines  of  which  so  much  was  heard 
and  so  little  known?  Had  they  all  been  sur- 
reptitiously removed  and  concealed?  Rather 
than  have  the  secrets  disclosed,  had  everything 
been  destroyed  or  sunk  to  the  bottom  of  the 
deep  basin?  There  were  a  few  score  of  men 
engaged  in  the  workshops  and  about  the  ships, 
in  the  performance  of  the  ordinary  duties  inci- 
dent to  the  shipping  business  apparently  there 
conducted.  Where  were  the  numerous  opera- 
tives of  the  rice  and  other  mills?  No  doubt  a 
great  saving  of  labor  had  been  effected,  but 
certainly  that  state  of  perfection  and  happiness 
had  not  already  been  reached,  where  no  labor 
at  all  was  necessary  to  support  mankind. 

The  appraisers  insisted  upon  having  the 
property,  that  had  been  given  to  the  state, 
revealed  to  them.  The  executor  declared  that 
he  knew  of  no  property  that  had  been  given  to 
the  state  except  what  was  around  there  as 
apparent  to  them  as  to  him ;  that  nothing  had 
been  concealed,  removed  or  destroyed  since 
Landaner's  death ;  and  that  everything  was 
there  that  had  ever  been  there.  At  this,  the 
appraisers  were  inclined  to  be  indignant,  but 
in  view  of  the  fact  that  they  were  quite  within 


112  THE    RICE    MILLS 

the  enemies'  lines,  and  without  any  assurance 
but  that  they,  too,  might  be  abducted  and 
caused  to  disappear  as  mysteriously  as  had  the 
property  they  sought,  they  withheld  all  expres- 
sion of  feeling  and  repaired  to  their  stateroom 
in  one  of  the  hulks  used  as  a  hotel.  Once  in 
the  privacy  of  their  room,  they  conferred  long 
over  the  events  of  the  day.  The  only  conclu- 
sion reached  was  that  they  had  been  completely 
frustrated  and  deceived,  and  that  they  still 
had  the  whole  mystery  to  dispel.  They  deter- 
mined to  take  it  coolly  and  show  no  distrust  or 
anxiety,  confident  that  in  time,  all  would  be 
brought  to  light.  The  presence  of  the  anony- 
mous boats  all  laden  either  with  material  for 
the  mills  or  their  products  for  the  Metropolis, 
and  the  fact  that,  among  all  the  barges,  there 
was  ndt  an  empty  one,  nor  one  in  process  of 
loading  or  unloading,  must  be  explained.  The 
mills  were  certainly  still  beyond.  With  a  firm 
determination  to  yet  find  them,  they  retired 
for  the  night. 

Next  morning  they  arose  just  as  the  light  of 
day  was  beginning  to  penetrate  that  hidden 
nook,  although  the  sun  was  already  well  on  its 
course.  Their  sleep  had  not  been  rest.  Their 
minds  were  uneasy ;  their  thoughts  full  of 
doubts  and  fancies.  From  the  deck  of  their 
boat,  everything    appeared    just    as    upon    the 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  II3 

preceding  evening,  except,  perhaps,  that  some 
of  the  boats  had  changed  position.  There  were 
no  mills  in  sight — no  chance  for  any,  unless 
they  were  concealed  in  some  hidden  cave  in  the 
rocky  cliffs  which  surrounded  the  basin.  A 
barge  was  about  leaving  the  basin  for  the 
Metropolis,  and  they  determined  to  inspect  it 
— that  nothing  might  escape.  It  was  found  to 
be  one  of  those  inspected  the  night  before,  but 
now  it  had  a  name,  register  number  and  papers. 
There  was  no  question  about  it  being  one  of 
those  before  visited,  for  there  were  the  secret 
marks  they  had  placed  upon  it  without  the 
knowledge  of  the  workmen  or  executor, in  order 
that  they  might  identify  it  afterward. 

Thereupon,  they  set  upon  re-inspecting  all 
the  vessels  in  the  basin,  and  found,  to  their 
amazement,  that  there  was  one  more  boat  than 
the  night  before.  It  was  laden  with  a  general 
cargo  for  the  Metropolis,  and  had  not  before 
been  visited  by  them.  Manifestly  it  had 
arrived  during  the  night,  from  the  mills.  How 
did  it  get  there?  They  had  not  passed  it  in 
the  canal,  nor  would  there  be  any  occasion  for 
bringing  one  back.  Their  investigation  only 
deepened  the  mystery.  They  determined  to 
mount  the  rugged  cliffs  and  overlook  the  basin 
and  surrounding  country.  Not  that  they  sus- 
pected the  ships  of  arriving  by  that    route,  but 

8 


114  THE    RICE    MILLS 

merely  to  see  what  was  to  be  seen.  After 
landing  many  times  and  making  numerous 
attempts,  they  finally  succeeded  in  making  an 
ascent  at  a  point  down  the  canal  a  little  way 
from  the  basin.  They  made  their  way  slowly 
along  the  rugged  cliff  until  they  not  only  over- 
looked the  basin,  but  to  their  great  surprise, 
also  the  Strait  of  Fuca.  Traveling  on  around 
the  basin,  they  arrived  upon  a  wall  but  a  few 
rods  in  width,  separating  the  basin  from  a 
slight  indenture  in  the  rugged  shore  of  the 
Strait.  They  proceeded  on  around  the  basin 
and  again  descended  to  the  canal,  and  were 
picked  up  a  short  distance  below  and  on  the 
opposite  side  from  where  they  started  out,  by 
their  boat  and  taken  in  for  the  night,  com- 
pletely tired  out  and  completely  bewildered. 
Their  tour  had  been  through  a  wild  and 
almost  impassible  region.  They  were  no  nearer 
the  mills  than  before. 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  II5 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE  RICE   MILLS   FOUND 

Next  morning  they  inspected  the  shipping 
with  the  same  results  as  the  preceeding  morn- 
ing, except  that  two  barges  had  been  added  to 
the  fleet  during  the  night,  both  laden  with  the 
usual  cargo  for  the  Metropolis.  The  men  were 
engaged  in  hoisting  from  these  new  arrivals, 
spars  and  rigging,  such  as  were  found  in  store 
in  large  numbers. 

Up  to  this  time  the  men  about  the  place 
had  paid  no  attention  to  their  visitors.  The 
appraisers  at  first  were  very  independent  and 
somewhat  threatening  and  overbearing.  They 
were  treated  courteously  but  no  great  friendship 
was  shown  for  them.  They  had  been  very 
cleverly  let  alone.  Completely  baffled  in  their 
attempts  to  find  the  mills,  or  even  ascertain 
whence  came  the  ships,  they  became  humiliated, 
and  upon  their  better  acquaintance,  ventured 
to  inquire  how  the  vessels  gained  entrance  into 


Il6  THE    RICE    MILLS 

the  basin.  The  executor  told  them.  Encour- 
aged by  this,  they  made  further  inquiries. 
Everything  they  asked  was  answered  openly 
and  fully.  All  was  explained  and  all  became 
clear.  Next  morning  he  took  them  out  and 
showed  them  everything  as  he  had  explained 
the  night  before,  and  had  a  ship  rigged  out  by 
way  of  illustration.  There  was  nothing  more 
for  the  appraisers  to  do.  The)'  returned  home 
and  filed  the  following  report  with  the  probate 
court : 

"We,  the  undersigned,  appraisers  of  the 
estate  of  Robert  Landaner,  deceased,  heretofore 
appointed  by  this  court  with  special  instruc- 
tions to  proceed  at  once  to  Port  Mystery  and 
inventory  and  appraise  the  property  of  the 
deceased  there  situated  and  make  immediate 
return  thereof  to  the  court,  do  hereby  report  as 
follows  : 

"We  have  fully  investigated  the  matters  re- 
ferred to  and  find  that  the  only  property  owned 
by  Robert  Landaner  at  his  death  consisted  of 
a  ship's  passage  from  Hood's  Canal  to  the  Strait 
of  Fuca  and  the  shores  including  said  passage  ; 
that  the  public  already  have  a  much  more  direct 
and  convenient  passage  on  the  Sound  by  way 
of  Port  Townsend,and  on  account  of  the  rugged 
character  of  the  shores  of  said  passage,  we  re- 
turn said  property  as  of  merely  nominal  or  no 
value. 

"The  supposition  prevails  very  largely  among 
the  people  that  large  and    valuable    properties 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY 


117 


were  bequeathed  to  the    state    by    the    second 
clause  of  the  will    of    decedent.      In    order    to 
disabuse  the  public  of  this  opinion  and  relieve 
ourselves  from  any   imputation    of    neglect    or 
duty,  we  beg  leave  to  further    report    that    the 
so-called  rice  machines  and  all  similar  machines 
whereby  the  products  of  our  state,  shipped  out 
of  the  Metropolis  by  the  Port  Mystery  barges 
were  supposed  to    be    converted  into   rice   and 
the  other  products   brought   in    by    the    return 
barges,  existed  only  in  the    imagination.      The 
only  process  of  conversion  was  that  of  exchange 
We     find     that  Port    Mystery    extended    north 
from  Hood's  Canal  to  within  a  few  rods  of  the 
Strait  of    Fuca,  from    which    it  was    separated 
by  a  natural  stone  wall  about    300    feet    high  ; 
that  through  this  wall  a  tunnel  was  constructed' 
large  enough  to  admit  the    passage    of    the  so- 
called  barges;  that  at  either  end  of  the  tunnel 
are  gates  whose  outer  surfaces  so  closely  imitate 
the  rocky  walls  to  which  theV  are  attached,  that 
when  closed,  they  cannot  be  detected;  that  the 
so-called  barges  are,  in  fact, sea-going  ships  pro- 
vided with  new-fashioned  removable  masts,  con- 
structed of  several  lengths  of  aluminium  cylin- 
ders of  varying  diameters  to  allow  them  to  tele- 
scope into   one  another.      The   first  and  largest 
joint  extends  from  the  bottom  of  the  ship  through 
the  hold  to  a  few  feet  above    the  deck,  and    is 
securely  clamped  in  its  place.      When  the  mast 
is  needed,  all  the  other  joints,  or   so   many   as 
may  be  required,  are  run  up  by    forcing    water 
into  the  cylinders  until  one  joint  after  another 
is  driven  out  of  the  one    next    larger,  and    the 
mast  is  drawn  out  like  an  extended  pocket  tele- 


Il8  THE    RICE    MILLS 

scope.  When  the  pressure  Is  suddenly  removed 
the  mast  cylinders  are  automatically  clamped 
in  their  places.  When  it  is  desired  to  lower 
the  mast  on  account  of  an  approaching  storm 
or  of  entering  a  harbor,  they  are  again  un- 
damped by  the  application  of  sufficient  pres- 
sure and  may  be  gradually  closed  up.  The  stays 
and  lines  are  attached  to  spring  reels,  fastened 
to  the  sides  of  the  ship,  by  which  they  are 
taken  up  as  fast  as  relieved  by  lowering  the 
mast,  and  may  be  let  out  at  will.  The  yards 
and  booms  are  similarly  adjustible.  Each  ship 
is  provided  with  a  screw  and  engines  and 
machinery  of  sufficient  power  to  control  the 
ship  in  a  storm, and  to  propel  it  into  and  out  of 
harbors  without  the  aid  of  a  tugboat.  The 
engines  are  also  used  for  loading  and  discharg- 
ing cargoes  in  port. 

"Now,  we  find  that  the  process  of  converting 
products  has  been  merely  this  :  These  barges 
were  loaded  for  the  sea  at  the  Metropolis. 
They  then  steamed  down  the  Sound  to  Port 
Mystery,  where  an  ocean  crew  was  put  aboard, 
a  set  of  the  new  style  masts  closed  up  compact 
was  quickly  hoisted  into  place  and  securely 
fastened  and  the  rigging  properly  adjusted. 
The  ships  then  steamed  through  the  hidden 
gates  at  the  dead  of  night,  crossed  the  strait 
into  British  waters  and  thence  out  upon  the 
open  Pacific,  where  the  masts  were  raised  and 
the  ships  proceeded  under  a  foreign  flag  to  all 
parts  of  the  globe.  The  cargoes  were  ex- 
changed and  the  ships  returned  to  the  Strait, 
and,  in  the  night,  crossed  over  to  the  American 
shore,  passed  through  the  gates,  were  relieved 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  Iig 

of  their  crews,  masts  and  rigging,  and  came  to 
the  Metropolis  as  steam  barges.  All  of  which 
can  be  verified  by  an  examination  of  the  barges 
and  a  visit  to  Port  Mystery,  which  is  now  open 
to  the  bublic." 


120  THE    RICE    MILLS 


CHAPTER  XV 

THE   LAST  INDUSTRIAL  CONFLICT 

This  report  attracted  much  attention 
throughout  the  whole  country.  At  first  the 
people  inclined  to  discredit  the  report,  saying 
that  it  was  impossible  that  such  a  deception 
should  be  so  long  and  so  successfully  main- 
tained. Port  Mystery  became  a  great  attrac- 
tion for  a  long  time.  Those  visiting  the  place 
the  day  after  the  report  was  filed,  found 
nothing  there  except  the  passage  and  the 
tunnel,  whose  gates  had  been  torn  off  and 
destroyed  or  sunk.  In  the  Pacific  Northwest 
the  whole  proceeding  was  looked  upon  as  a 
huge  joke  and  caused  much  merriment.  Land- 
aner  was  held  in  no  less  esteem  by  reason  of 
his  artifice  ;  many  admired  him  all  the  more. 
But  clearly  he  was  not  that  ideal  of  innocence 
and  ingenuousnessthat  many  had  imagined  him. 
East  of  the  Rocky  Mountains  the  report  was 
read  with  much  more    interest.    Some  smiled ; 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  121 

others  took  it  more  seriously.  Some  said  the 
nation  had  been  basely  deceived  and  defrauded, 
and  the  commerce  and  navigation  laws  crimi- 
nally disregarded.  Others  said  that  inasmuch 
as  the  country  had  been  benefited,  they  could 
see  nothing  so  very  criminal  or  serious  about  it. 
The  proposition  was  argued  in  its  different 
phases  in  every  city  and  hamlet  of  the  nation. 
As  soon  as  it  was  certain  that  the  plot  would 
surely  soon  be  discovered,  the  ships  which  h^d 
so  regularly  visited  the  Metropolis,  failed  to 
appear.  Some  of  them  were  sold  to  innocent 
third  parties,  citizens  of  other  countries — so 
they  said.  The  new  style  of  masts  and  rigging 
was  applied  to  other  ships,  so  that  there  was 
no  means  of  identifying  those  formerly  in  the 
Port  Mystery  trade, and  the  seamen  on  all  of  the 
suspicious  ships  pretended  to  have  never  entered 
such  a  port.  But,  as  the  ships  gradually  ceased 
coming  to  port,  the  effect  upon  business  began 
to  be  felt,  and  afcer  a  few  weeks  the  situation 
became  alarming.  Many  people  east  of  the 
Mountains  demanded  the  confiscation  of  the 
ships  and  cargoes.  The  Coast  people  clamored 
for  their  immediate  return  in  order  that  the 
many  idle  workmen  might  be  employed  supply- 
ing the  out-going  cargoes.  They  demanded 
the  repeal  of  all  laws  that  tended  to  restrict 
commerce,  or  deprive    the    Metropolis    of    the 


122  THE    RICE    MILLS 

glory  justly  due  her  as  mistress  of  the  Pacific 
hemisphere.  To  this  end  all  sorts  of  petitions, 
memorials  and  resolutions  from  all  sorts  of 
people,  commercial  boards  and  chambers,  labor 
organizations,  city  and  state  legislatures,  not 
only  on  the  Coast,  but  over  the  whole  country, 
were  preferred  to  the  national  Congress.  On 
the  other  hand,  there  were  many  praying  for 
the  rigid  enforcement  of  all  laws  relating  to 
this  subject,  and  of  all  the  penalties  incurred 
by  their  breach  in  the  past.  These  latter  man- 
ifestations, however,  came  solely  from  east  of 
the  Rockies.  The  Rice  Dealers'  Protective 
Union,  comprising  the  chief  producers  and 
merchants  through  the  southern  states,  pre- 
sented to  the  United  States  Senate  an  economic 
treatise  not  unlike  that  presented  to  a  preced- 
ing Congress  by  their  employees.  Similar 
documents  were  presented  by  the  Wool  Growers 
Association ;  by  the  Amalgamated  Steel 
Association ;  by  the  National  Home  Market 
Club;  by  the  Society  for  Maintaining  the 
Dignity  of  American  Labor,  and  by  numerous 
Labor  Organizations,  Farmers'  Alliances  and 
Granges. 

A  joint  resolution  passed  Congress  for  the 
appointment  of  a  committee  to  investigate 
the  Port  Mystery  fraud,  and  act  in  conjunction 
with  the  executive  in  securing  due  compliance 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  123 

with  the  laws.  At  the  same  time  a  bill  was 
introduced  into  the  United  States  Senate  by  a 
Senator  from  Washington,  providing  for  the 
removal  of  restrictions  upon  commerce  and 
exchange  so  far  as  consistent  with  the  due 
administration  of  government,  to  the  end  that 
the  Port  Mystery  commerce  might  be  revived 
and  openly  and  permanently  established  and 
extended  throughout  the  nation.  The  bill,  to- 
gether with  all  matters  relating  to  the  subject, 
was  referred  to  a  select  committee  of  Senators 
— the  leaders  of  the  public  affairs  of  the  nation. 
The  committee  immediately  entered  upon  the 
discharge  of  its  duties,  secured  the  necessary 
facts,  heard  the  arguments  of  the  ablest  states- 
men and  attorneys  in  the  country,  and  after  a 
full  consideration  made  the    following    report : 

"The  Select  Committee  to  whom  was  assigned 
the  duty  of  investigating  the  Port  Mystery 
frauds,  and  to  whom  also  was  referred  the  bill 
for  the  removal  of  restrictions  upon  foreign 
exchanges,  beg  leave  to  submit  the    following  : 

"We  are  unanimously  of  opinion  that  re- 
strictions and  prohibitions  which  discourage  or 
prevent  exchanges  between  the  people  of  this 
nation  and  those  of  foreign  nations,  tend  to 
strengthen  and  enrich  the  nation,  elevate  the 
position  of  the  American  workingman,  and 
promote  the  general  welfare  and  happiness  of 
the  people.  Laws  which  have  this  object  in 
view  should  therefore  be  maintained,  for : 


124  THE    RICE    MILLS 

i.  The  conditions  are  different  in  this 
country  from  those  in  others.  The  general  scale 
of  wages  is  higher.  If, therefore, our  people  are 
permitted  to  procure  a  certain  line  of  products 
from  a  country  whose  people  are  accustomed  to 
receive  much  less  than  ours,  it  is  clear  that 
our  own  people  must  either  accept  the  foreign 
wages  or  go  out  of  business ;  for  exchanges 
will  be  made  only  in  foreign  lands  where  the 
most  can  be  procured.  If  a  particular  nation 
pays  as  high  wages  as  this,  and  the  natural 
advantages  are  the  same,  exchanges  may  be 
permitted  without  endangering  the  welfare  of 
our  people.  But  this  bill  seeks  to  remove  re- 
strictions upon  exchanges  with  all  nations, 
however  cheaply  they  may  produce  things. 

2.  Restrictions  upon  exchanges  under  such 
circumstances  tend  to  furnish  employment  to 
our  laborers  and  increase  their  wages.  If 
instead  of  exchanging  an  hour's  labor  for  an 
hour's  labor  (in  the  form  of  products)  among 
our  own  people,  one  is  permitted  to  send  his 
hour's  product  abroad  and  get  what  would  be 
the  product  of  two  hours'  labor  here,  the  intro- 
duction of  such  product  would  deprive  our 
own  laborers  not  only  of  one,  but  of  two  hours' 
work.  It  would  reduce  the  demand  for  labor 
at  home,  and  wages  must  fall  accordingly. 

3.  It  is  to  just  such  restrictions  and  prohi- 
bitions as  this  bill  seeks  to  remove  that  we 
have  to  look  for  the  enviable  position  occupied 
by  the  American  laborer,  as  compared  with 
those  of  other  countries.  How  long  could  they 
maintain  their  present  high  standard  of  com- 
fort and  happiness,  if    compelled    to    work    in 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  1 25 

competition  with  the  pauper  labor  of  Europe 
and  the  Cooly  labor  of  the  Orient?  To  what 
other  cause  than  the  very  laws  sought  to  be 
repealed  by  this  bill,  can  be  attributed  the  high 
rate  of  wages,  the  elevated  position  and  the 
wonderful  development  and  prosperity  of  the 
American  people? 

4.  But,  though  we  buy  where  we  can  buy 
cheapest,  we  must  pay  something.  Is  it  not 
far  better  economy  to  keep  our  money  at  home 
and  among  our  people,  than  to  allow  the 
country  to  be  drained  of  it,  to  pay  for  foreign 
purchases? 

5.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  action  of  this 
government  in  relation  to  this  bill  is  watched 
with  intense  interest  by  foreign  nations.  Are 
they  so  much  interested  in  the  welfare  of  the 
American  people?  Or  is  it  not  manifest  that 
they  regard  the  passage  of  this  bill  of  the 
greatest  importance  and  advantage  to  them? 
Are  the  American  people  already  so  affluent  as 
to  bestow  such  benefits  upon  strangers? 

6.  The  proposition,  in  short,  is  to  throw 
open  our  market  to  the  world  and  permit  it  to 
be  flooded  with  the  cheap  goods  of  pauper, 
convict,  slave  and  Cooly  labor.  Then  when 
our  factories  are  all  converted  into  poor-houses, 
and  our  industries  finally  transferred  to  foreign 
lands,  the  price  of  our  necessaries  and  con- 
veniences will  be  so  raised  as  to  complete  the 
permanent  subjection  and  servitude  of  the 
people  to  our  foreign  masters. 

7.  A  people  of  a  single  industry  is  never 
wealthy.  The  laws  attacked  by  this  bill  tend 
to  give  diversity  of  employment    whereby    our 


126  THE    RICE    MILLS 

people  may  enrich  one  another,  instead  of 
foreigners,  by  their  exchanges. 

8.  It  is  only  by  reason  of  the  opportunities 
afforded  by  such  diversity  of  industry  that  the 
nation  has  won  such  fame  in  the  field  of  inven- 
tion. Think  of  the  amount  of  labor  saved  by 
American  inventions  and  the  consequent  re- 
duction in  price  of  the  necessities  of  life, 
bringing  them  within  the  reach  of  all.  Could 
such  inventions  ever  have  been  made  if  our 
people  had  followed  agriculture  all  their  days, 
and  exchanged  for  all  the  products  of  the  shop 
and  factory? 

"In  conclusion,  we  again  avow  our  loyalty 
to  American  industries,  American  labor  and 
American  institutions,  and  therefore,  recom- 
mend that  the  bill  be  not  passed." 

The  following  is  the  record  of  the  proceed- 
ings in  the  United  States  Senate  upon  this  bill 
when  it  came  up  for  consideration 

"The  Senate  having  under  consideration  the 
bill  for  the  removal  of  restrictions  upon 
foreign  exchanges,  on  the  motion  that  the  bill 
be  not  passed." 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  127 


CHAPTER  XVI 

WHAT  DETERMINES  WAGES 

Mr.  Bright :  "Mr.  President,  as  a  matter  of 
personal  privilege  and  favor,  before  this  motion 
is  put,  I  beg  an  opportunity  to  place  myself 
upon  record,  that  I  may  not  be  charged  with 
infidelity  or  laches  in  a  matter  so  vital  to 
the  progress  and  prosperity  of  my  constituents. 
We  have  all  heard  the  report,  and  recognize 
it  as  the  staple  article.  The  statements  and 
arguments  in  refutation,  have  been  so  often 
repeated  on  this  floor  that,  as  a  labor-saving 
device  for  clearing  the  Chamber,  they  are  an 
unqualified  success.  But  because  of  the  devel- 
opments at  Port  Mystery,  and  of  the  present 
alarming  state  of  industrial  affairs  throughout 
the  Pacific  Northwest,  I  beg  to  be  heard  upon 
the  merits  of  this  bill. 

"The  report  says,  in  substance,  that  the  con- 
ditions of  the  countries  with  whom  we  have 
been  trading  through  Port  Mystery  are  different 


128  THE    RICE    MILLS 

from  those  of  our  own ;  that  they  are  able  to 
produce  things  cheaper.  This  is  undoubtedly 
true.  Otherwise  there  would  be  no  advantage 
in  exchanging  with  them.  It  is  because  cheaper 
wages  and  interest,  or  more  favorable  condi- 
tions and  opportunities  abroad,  enable  us  to 
procure  the  articles  sought  by  exchanging  less 
labor  than  would  produce  the  articles  at  home, 
that  we  make  such  exchanges.  The  induce- 
ment to  all  commercial  exchange  is  the  means 
afforded  of  procuring  desired  objects  by  ex- 
changing less  labor  in  one's  special  industry, 
than  would  be  required  to  produce  the  objects 
directly.  In  short,  it  is  a  means  of  saving 
labor.  Ordinarily,  if  one  would  never  lack 
employment,  all  he  has  to  do  is  to  produce  all 
the  simplest  articles  he  consumes.  But  it  is 
too  clear  for  argument  that  what  the  people 
of  this  day  want  is,  not  to  perform  the  greatest 
possible  amount  of  labor,  but  to  avoid  it. 
Now  here  is  a  plan  by  which  a  man  may  per- 
form a  certain  number  of  hours'  work  in  one 
employment,  and  secure  at  least  twice  as  many 
of  the  objects  he  desires  as  by  employing  his 
labor  the  same  number  of  hours  directly  to 
that  purpose.  Shall  we  permit  him  to  do  it? 
Make  the  case  more  concrete.  Our  people 
want  rice.  By  working  in  the  southern  swamps, 
20,000   men    can    produce    a    certain    amount. 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  120, 

By  working,  not  there,  but  in  the  forests  and 
mines  of  the  Pacific  Northwest,  and  exchang- 
ing their  products  with  the  inhabitants  of  the 
East  Indies  and  China,  they  may  procure  the 
same  amount  in  half  the  time,  or  twice  the 
amount  in  the  same  time.  Which  shall  we 
require  them  to  do  ;  work  ten  hours  under  a 
boiling  sun  in  malarial  swamps  ;  or  five  hours 
in  the  equable  climate  of  evergreen  Washing- 
ton, and  have  the  balance  of  the  day  either  for 
leisure  or  the  cultivation  of  desires  higher  and 
nobler  than  mere  appetite? 

"It  is  said  wages  would  be  lowered.  But  is 
that  so?  How  lowered?  Was  that  not  the 
very  point  urged  against  the  rice  machines  of 
Port  Mystery,  and  did  not  this  Senate  show 
that  no  such  a  result  could  possibly  follow? 
Let  us  be  consistent.  By  what  magic  is  it 
that  exchanges  of  cargoes  via  Port  Mystery 
surely  increase  wages,  and  the  same  exchanges 
exactly,  via  Port  Townsend,  as  surely  de- 
crease them?  What  are  wages?  Do  we  want 
to  increase  or  decrease  them?  How  can  they 
be  increased?  Since  all  these  questions  are 
peculiarly  pertinent  at  this  time,  and,  in  my 
judgment,  so  mightily  concern  the  welfare  of 
the  whole  people,  I  ask  to  state  my  views 
fully,  and  beg  the  indulgence  of  the  Senators, 
if  I  descend  somewhat  into  elementary    princi- 


I30  THE    RICE    MILLS 

pies.  And  if  I  should  frequently  refer  to  and 
closely  follow  those  cardinal  principles  laid 
down  in  the  report  adopted  by  the  Senate  in 
the  former  investigation  of  this  question,  and 
which  the  senators  now  repudiate,  I  beg  them 
to  bear  with  me,  for  the  reason,  if  none  other, 
that  they  very  recently  held  the  same  principles 
as  applied  to  exactly  the  same  state  of  facts, 
the  only  variance  being  in  the  course  of  navi- 
gation for  a  distance  of  twenty  or  thirty  miles 
out  of  average  voyages  of  four  or  five  thousand 
miles. 

"Human  life  and  happiness  depend  immedi- 
ately upon  human  production,  without  which 
no  race  could  long  survive.  The  spontaneous 
production  of  the  earth  would  support  but  an 
insignificant  part  of  its  population.  It  takes 
both  the  earth  (or  as  economists  call  it,  land)  * 
and  more  or  less  labor  to  support  its  people 
at  all ;  and  in  general,  the  larger  the  produc- 
tion, the  greater  the  sum  of  human  happiness. 
Nature  and  nature's  laws  are  the  same  now  as 
they  have  been  all  the  time  of  man's  habitation 
of  the  world.  There  have  been  fields  and 
forests,  metals  and  fuels,  steam  and  electricity 
all  the  time  ;  and  the  more  we  learn  of  the 
world,  the  more  it  appears  to  be  infinite  in  its 
capacity  for  production.  At  any  rate,  since 
we  cannot  enlarge    the    earth,  if    we    increase 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  131 

production  it  must  be  by  increasing  tke  pro- 
ductive power  of  labor.  It  has  been  increased 
many-fold,  and  the  limit  is  far-  from    reached. 

"The  demand  for  products  increases  with 
civilization.  Human  desires  keep  far  in  ad- 
vance of  the  power  of  satisfying  them,  and  they 
are  practically  unlimited. 

"The  real  earnings  of  every  one  consist  in 
what  he  produces.  But  the  actual  products  of 
one's  labor  would  ordinarily  satisfy  few  of  his 
wants  ;  sometimes  none  at  all.  He  wants  the 
various  products  of  others'  labor,  which  he  can 
obtain  by  exchanging  an  amount  of  his  labor, 
in  the  form  of  its  products,  for  an  equivalent 
amount  of  their  labor,  in  the  form  of  their  pro- 
ducts. These  products,  either  the  original  or 
exchanged,  may  be  called  the  laborer's  real 
earnings.  They  are  valued  and  exchanged  on 
the  basis  of  the  quantity  and  quality  of  labor 
entering  into  them,  respectively.  There  is 
thereby  established  a  sort  of  natural  scale  of 
earnings,  by  which  a  certain  amount  of  labor 
of  a  certain  class  rewards  the  laborers  of  that 
class  with  a  uniform  power  of  satisfying  desires 
through  the  system  of  exchange.  And  the 
earnings  in  the  different  classes  of  occupations 
are  fixed  and  determined  naturally,  by  the 
agreeableness  or  disagreeableness,  lightness  or 
hardness    of    the    employments ;    the    ease    or 


132  THE    RICE    MILLS 

difficulty,  the  expense  or  cheapness  of  learning 
them  ;  the  probability  or  improbability  of  suc- 
cess in  them  ;  the  constancy  or  inconstancy  of 
the  employment,  the  amount  of  trust  imposed, 
and  numerous  other  causes.  If  the  products 
of  a  given  branch  of  industry  have  a  greater 
power  of  commanding  objects  in  exchange  than 
the  character  of  the  labor  naturally  warrants, 
labor  will  shift  to  that  industry  from  others 
until  equilibrium  is  restored.  This  scale  or 
natural  relation  of  the  purchasing  power  of 
labor,  or  of  the  various  products  of  labor,  is 
expressed,  for  conventional  numeration,  in 
money  value.  The  value,  then,  of  various 
products  is  a  statement  of  the  relative  quantity 
(time  and  quality  considered)  of  labor  enter- 
ing into  them. 

"It  is  to  be  observed  that  money,  not  in  its 
character  as  a  measure  of  value,  but  as  a 
medium  of  exchange,  figures  but  slightly.  It 
is  but  an  insignificant  fraction  of  the  wealth 
of  the  country.  Of  itself  it  satisfies  no  desires. 
It  cannot,  as  such,  feed,  clothe,  or  house 
anybody.  It  is  the  instrument  by  which  one's 
products  are  exchanged  for  what  others  pro- 
duce. It  merely  bridges  the  chasm  of  credit 
which  exists  during  an  exchange  when  the 
products  are  not  actually  present  for  barter. 
Nearly  the  whole  of  the  aggregate  of  exchanges 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I 33 

of  a  country  are  effected  without  money,  and 
it  is  not  difficult  to  conceive  of  a  plan  by  which 
it  could  be  entirely  dispensed  with,  without 
detracting  from  the  real  earnings  of  the  indi- 
vidual in  the  least.  At  most  it  is  a  matter  of 
convenience. 

"The  producer's  real  earnings  and  the  earn- 
ings actually  retained  and  enjoyed  by  him  are, 
however,  quite  different.  Whatever  products 
are  enjoyed  and  consumed  by  royalty,  nobility, 
standing  armies,  or  by  dependents  of  any  kind 
upon  government,  are  taken  from  the  real 
earnings  of  the  laborer,  and  reduce  the  earnings 
enjoyed  by  him  to  that  extent.  These  classes 
are  supported  by  taxation,  which  is  merely  the 
power  of  taking  from  the  producers  of  a  country 
a  certain  proportion  of  their  real  earnings — of 
their  bread,  meat,  clothing,  and  other  necessi- 
ties and  conveniences,  if  you  please— for  which 
no  return  is,  nor  in  the  nature  of  things  can 
be,  made  ;  for  a  man  who  comes  into  the  world 
with  nothing,  and  there  produces  nothing,  can 
give  but  nothing.  The  producer's  real  earnings 
are  similarly  taken  to  support  all  sorts  of 
private  non-producers  who  depend  for  their 
power  of  appropriation  upon  defective  laws 
and  social  systems  based  upon  human  weak- 
nesses. 

"By  the  Ricardian  Law  of  Rent, accepted  by 


134  THE  RICE  MILLS 

all  economists  as  fixing  the  rent  of    land  in  its 
natural  state  and  without    any    improvements, 
all  that  part  of  the  laborer's  products  upon  any 
land  in  excess  of  what  the    same    labor    would 
produce  upon    the    best    unappropriated    land, 
would  go  to  the  landlord  as  the  rent  of  the  land 
on  which  the  labor  was  employed  ;  and  would, 
therefore,    be    taken    from    the    laborer's    real 
earnings  and  become  earnings  enjoyed  by  some 
one  else.     Then  again  a    majority    of    laborers 
are  employed  by    others,  in  which    case    their 
earnings  retained  and  enjoyed  are  called  wages. 
The  great  mass  of  wage-workers  have  no  capital 
of  their  own  and  rely  upon    their  employers  to 
supply  it.      For  this  service,  circumstances  and 
custom  allow  the  employer  to  take    all   of   the 
laborer's  real  earnings    above    what    could    be 
produced  by  hand,  as  it    is   called,  or  without 
much   capital ;    for   that    is    all    the    employee 
could  get,  should  he  refuse  employment.     This 
is  a  corollary  of  the  law   of  Rent,  not    perhaps 
necessarily  so,  but  so    in    fact.     The    earnings 
enjoyed,  then,  may  be  but  a   small    portion   of 
the  real  products  of  one's  labor. 

"The  power  of  obtaining  the  objects  which 
satisfy  our  desires  is  what  determines  the  com- 
forts and  pleasures  of  life,  and  hence  it  is 
what  we  all  seek.  The  employee's  only  source 
of  power  is  his  wages.     To  increase  the  number 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  I 35 

of  such  objects  obtainable,  is  to  increase  wages, 
and  the  converse.  Therefore,  there  are  two 
ways  to  increase  wages,  (i)  Give  the  employee 
more  of  his  real  earnings.  (2)  Increase  real 
earnings.  The  former  is  in  the  line  of  social 
reform  ;  the  latter,  rather  of  scientific  progress 
and  human  development.  As  before  shown, 
real  earnings  can  be  increased  only  by  increas- 
ing the  productive  power  of  labor. 

"Wages  are  not  paid  out  of  the  employer's 
property — not  even  advanced  by  him.  The 
wage  fund  theory  and  all  kindred  fancies  which 
gave  political  economy  the  name  of  the  "dismal 
science"  have  long  been  discarded.  The 
laborer  produces  his  wages  before  he  gets  them. 
The  so-called  payment  is  merely  giving  him 
other  products  (or  money,  the  instrument  for 
procuring  other  products)  in  exchange  for  a 
certain  share  of  what  he  has  already  given  his 
employer.  There  is  no  use  in  trying  to  make 
an  employer  pay  an  employee  more  wages 
than  the  natural  value  of  what  the  employee 
produces.  No  one  will  give  something  for 
nothing  if  he  knows  it,  and  he  could  not  long 
do  it  if  he  would. 

"Now  to  apply  these  principles  to  the  admit- 
ted facts  before  us  with  respect  to  rice.  Here  is 
a  plan  which  enables  our  laborers  to  send 
abroad  lumber,  coal,  farm    products,  etc.,  and 


I36  THE    RICE    MILLS 

receive  in  return  twice  as  much  rice  as  the 
labor  whose  results  are  sent  abroad  could  pro- 
duce if  applied  directly  to  rice  production  at 
home.  This  condition  of  affairs  may  be  the 
result  of  good  fortune  on  our  part,  or  mis- 
fortune on  the  part  of  foreigners.  Be  that  as  it 
may,  it  is  certainly  a  fact.  It  is  a  veritable 
rice-mill,  without  a  mystery,  by  which  the 
efficiency  of  the  labor  engaged  in  procuring 
rice  is  doubled.  And  the  question  is  again 
presented,  shall  their  operation  be  permitted? 
If  not,  20,000  men  now  engaged  in  the  mines 
and  forests  of  the  Pacific  Northwest  will  be 
thrown  out  of  their  present  employment.  To 
be  sure,  men  will  engage  in  rice  culture  when 
the  price  is  artificially  raised  until  the  intrinsic 
value  of  the  rice,  plus  the  bonus,  or  increase 
of  price  resulting  from  restrictive  laws,  gives 
the  growers  the  same  power  of  commanding 
objects  possessed  by  the  laborers  in  other 
similar  occupations. 

"The  statistics  compiled  upon  the  former 
consideration  of  this  subject  by  the  Senate, 
showed  that  such  price  must  be  about  double 
the  price  lately  established  under  the  Port 
Mystery  exchanges,  one-half  of  which  will  be 
intrinsic  worth,  and  the  other  half,  bonus.  On 
account  of  this  increase  of  price,  of  course  not 
nearly  so  much   rice    will    be    demanded.      As 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  1 37 

might  be  expected,  the  amount  of  rice  con- 
sumed in  this  country,  under  the  Port  Mystery 
prices,  has  been  about  double  the  quantity  con- 
sumed at  the  old  price.  It  is  just  as  clear  that  if 
the  price  is  again  raised,  the  amount  consumed 
will  be  reduced  to  the  former  amount.  There- 
fore, although  the  amount  of  labor  necessarily 
expended  to  obtain  a  pound  of  rice  will  be 
doubled,  at  best  only  the  same  amount  of  labor 
will  be  employed,  which  will  be  represented 
by  one-half  as  much  rice.  The  power  of  the 
consumer  to  procure  rice  will  thus  be  reduced 
fifty  per  cent.  An  hour's  work  of  the  consumer, 
engaged  in  the  same  grade  of  labor,  will  ex- 
change for  an  hour's  work  of  the  rice-producer, 
no  more,  no  less;  and  when  the  latter  procures 
only  one-half  as  much  rice,  the  consumer  will 
get  only  half  as  much  for  his  hour's  work. 
That  is,  if  you  please,  his  wages,  so  far  as  the 
rice  he  consumes  is  concerned,  will  be  reduced 
one-half.  He  must  work  two  hours  for  the 
rice  he  now  gets  with  one  hour's  work.  What- 
ever he  now  procures  with  the  second  hour's 
labor,  he  must  go  without,  and  also,  whoever 
now  produces  it  must  quit  for  want  of  a  pur- 
chaser able  to  purchase. 

"And  so,  an  increase  in  the  price  of  the 
various  commodities,  which  may  be  procured 
with  less    labor    through    exchanges,  tends    to 


I38  THE    RICE    MILLS 

reduce  wages  and  disemploy  the  people.  Con- 
sumers must  be  content  with  less,  and  the 
general  scale  of  earnings  throughout  the  country 
must  fall. 

"But,  it  is  said  the  laborer  is  better  rewarded 
in  this  country  than  in  any  other,  and  we  are 
asked  why  is  this,  with  an  air  implying  that, 
of  course,  it  is  because  our  laws  restrict  ex- 
changes. Now,  there  are  two  reasons. 
(1)  He  produces  more.  He  has  larger  and 
richer  fields  of  natural  opportunities  upon  which 
to  employ  his  labor,  and,  by  reason  of  his 
intelligence, education,  genius,  skill  and  general 
aptness  for  applying  his  head  and  hands  to  the 
best  advantage,  he  is  able,  with  the  aid  of 
such  inventions  and  instrumentalities  as  he  has 
contrived,  to  produce  more,  even  under  the 
same  circumstances,  than  a  laborer  in  any 
other  country;  and  with  the  superior  natural 
advantages  of  this  country,  his  real  earnings 
are  and  ought  to  be  much  greater.  (2)  Less 
of  these  real  earnings  are  taken  from  him. 
We  have  no  royalty  nor  nobility,  no  great  and 
wasteful  standing  armies  and  navies,  as  do 
most  other  countries.  We  have  good  land 
still  unoccupied,and  therefore,  rents  are  not  as 
high  as  where  all  the  land  is  occupied.  We 
are  subject  to  fewer  whims,  superstitions  and 
customs  than  most  other  people,  and  are  thereby 


OF   PORT   MYSTERY  1 39 

relieved  from  supporting  numerous  non-pro- 
ducers who  impose  themselves  upon  some  of 
the  older  nations.  Producing  more,  and  giving 
up  less,  than  the  laborer  of  any  other  nation, 
no  wonder  his  wages  are  higher." 


I40  1HE    RICE    MILLS 


CHAPTER  XVII 

MONEY 

Mr.  Miller:  "Mr.  President,  I  want  to  say 
a  word  or  two  on  the  third  ground  stated  in  the 
report,  that  foreign  exchanges  would  drain  the 
country  of  its  money,  as  it  is  expressed.  I 
have  spent  much  time  in  studying  up  this  money 
question,  in  connection  with  various  bills,  and 
as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Finance,  it 
has  been  my  duty  and  my  pleasure  to  partici- 
pate in  many  investigations  and  listen  to  many 
able  arguments  throwing  light  upon  this  sub- 
ject. I  must  remark  at  the  outset,  that  in 
most  people's  minds  the  subject  is  surrounded 
with  a  dense  cloud  of  mystery.  All  sorts  of 
supernatural  power  is  attributed  to  it,  and 
many  look  upon  it  as  the  all-important  question 
of  the  day,  whose  solution  (in  accordance  with 
their  ideas, )  would  relieve  the  world  of  its 
trouble  and  poverty  and  cure  all  ills;  while 
the  fact    is,  as    stated    by    the    Senator    from 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I4I 

Washington  (Mr.  Bright,)  it  has  very  little 
to  do  with  the  production  and  distribution  of 
the  world's  wealth — subjects  which  are  all- 
important  and  comprehend  all  other  problems 
in  social  and  economic  affairs.  The  Senator 
well  expresses  its  function  when  he  says  it 
merely  bridges  the  chasm  of  credit,  which 
exists  during  an  exchange,  where  the  products 
are  not  brought  together.  Exchange  is  always 
of  labor,  generally  executed  and  represented 
by  its  product.  There  is  nothing  else  to  ex- 
change. The  elements  in  their  natural  condi- 
tion have  no  value.  A  small  part  of  the  value 
of  an  article  frequently  consists  in  the  power  of 
the  producer,  by  reason  of  the  monopoly  of  some 
bounty  of  nature  given  him  by  society,  to  levy 
a  tribute  upon  the  consumer  in  addition  to  the 
value  of  the  labor  entering  into  it ;  but  the 
general  element  of  value  is  labor.  This  labor 
is  admitted  to  be  irksome  by  all  honest  people  ; 
and  while  some  others  say  they  take  pleasure 
in  work,  they  have  such  a  horror  for  pleasure 
that  they  accomplish  nothing.  It  is  a  universal 
rule  in  business  that  no  one  gives  something 
for  nothing ;  and  the  converse  follows,  that 
no  one  can  get  something  for  nothing.  The 
only  something  there  is,  is  the  product  of 
labor.  Every  exchange,  therefore  is  labor  for 
labor.     Should  you  wish  articles  from  a  foreign 


142  THE    RICE    MILLS 

producer,  you  must  send  him  yours ;  or,  by  your 
products,  procure  another  to  send  his,  or  assure 
such  producer  that  you  will  in  the  future  send 
your  own  or  somebody's  else  products.  The 
principle  is  the  same,  whether  the  exchange  is 
with  a  neighbor  or  a  foreigner.  This  is  a  gold 
and  silver  producing  country.  These  metals 
represent  labor  as  much  as  iron  or  coal  or 
lumber,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  may 
not  be  as  profitably  exported.  Whenever  they 
are  sent  abroad,  there  is  a  demand  for  labor  to 
produce  more  to  take  their  place  here.  But 
if  all  coin  should  be  sent  out  of  the  country 
and  exchanged  for  necessary  capital  of  various 
sorts,  it  could  be  replaced  by  sufficient  money 
secured  by  government  power  and  promise,  to 
conveniently  conduct  business  and  maintain  a 
uniform  scale  of  values  ;  and  the  country  would 
be  ahead  by  the  amount  of  interest  the  wealth, 
in  the  form  of  capital,  would  bring.  Suppose 
nine-tenths  of  our  money  were  suddenly  con- 
verted into  other  property,  how  would  it  injure 
us?  There  would  then  be  only  one-tenth  as 
much  gold,  we  will  say,  in  the  country,  and  it 
would  be  as  difficult  to  get  ten  cents  (2.58 
grains)  of  gold  as  it  is  now  to  get  $1.00  (25.8 
grains).  What  difference  would  it  make  to 
the  furniture-maker  whether  he  gave  his  day's 
labor  in  the  form  of  a  chair  for  2.58   grains  of 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  1 43 

gold  and  paid  it  out  again  for  a  pair  of  shoes, 
or  whether  he  got  25.8  grains  and  paid  that 
weight  of  gold  for  the  same  pair  of  shoes?  Or 
what  difference  would  it  make  to  him  whether 
the  figure  1  on  the  piece  of  paper  that  rep- 
resents this  negotiable  credit  from  the  time  he 
delivers  his  chair  to  the.  man  who  wants  it,  to 
the  time  he  finds  the  pair  of  shoes  he  wants, 
has  the  decimal  point  on  the  right  or  on  the 
left  side  of  it?  Of  course  he  must  know  when 
he  takes  it  as  representing  his  day's  work  that 
it  will  procure  another  man's  day's  work  in  re- 
turn, and  that  is  all  there  is  of  it  to  him. 

"It  is  often  said  that  the  more  money  there 
is,  the  lower  the  rate  of  interest ;  but  this  is 
either  error  or  inaccuracy  in  language.  Where 
the  word  money  is  used,  as  it  frequently  is,  as 
synonomous  with  capital  or  wealth,  it  is  true. 
But  when  used  in  its  proper  sense,  signifying 
the  medium  of  exchange,  it  cannot  be  true,  and 
there  is  no  power,  even  in  Congress,  to  make 
it  true.  Let  me  illustrate  :  A  man  wishes  to 
engage  in  carrying  brick  across  the  Potomac. 
He  has  no  boat,  no  capital  in  any  form.  It 
would  take  a  hundred  days  to  make  a  boat. 
He  does  not  know  how  to  make  one,  and, 
if  he  did,  he  could  not  subsist  while  making  it. 
However,  he  can  earn  as  much  more  carrying 
brick  with  a  boat  than  he  could  earn  otherwise 


144  THE  RICE  MILLS 

that  he  can  well  afford  to  give  ten  days'  work 
in  every  year  for  the  use  of  a  boat.  That  is, 
the  boat  enables  him  to  earn  so  much  more  in 
a  year  that,  after  paying  the  earnings  of  ten 
days  for  the  use  of  a  boat,  he  has  left  more 
than  he  would  have  earned  altogether  without 
it.  This  boat  may  make  his  labor  little  or 
much  more  productive  ;  and  if  he  could  not  get 
the  use  of  any  other  boat,  he  might  have  been 
willing  to  pay  one  hundred  per  cent,  of  the 
value  of  the  boat  for  the  use  of  it.  But  here 
the  amount  to  be  paid  for  the  use  of  boats  is 
determined  by  the  relation  between  their 
number  (or  means  of  building  them)  and  the 
number  of  people  wanting  them,  which,  in  turn, 
is  governed  by  their  cost  and  the  amount  they 
increase  the  efficiency  of  labor.  On  account  of 
the  interchangeability  of  labor  and  its  products, 
this  ratio  will  adjust  itself  to  the  general  ratio, 
measured  by  a  certain  percentage  of  the  value 
of  articles  of  capital  generally,  no  matter  what 
figures  or  words  may  be  used  to  express  that 
value.  Suppose  the  value  of  a  day's  work  in 
making  or  using  the  boat  is  expressed  by  $1.00, 
and  the  established  worth  of  the  use  of  it  per 
year  is  one-tenth  its  value.  The  total  value 
would  be  $100,  and  the  interest  would  be  $10 
per  year.  Now,  suppose  that  by  some  manip- 
ulation of  Congress,  there  is  suddenly  brought 


OF   PORT   MYSTERY  1 45 

into  circulation  ten  times  as  much  money,  so 
that  it  is  ten  times  as  easily  obtained.  This 
would  amount  to  shifting  the  decimal  point  one 
place  to  the  right,  in  expressing  values  by 
figures.  A  day's  work  would  be  $10  instead  of 
$1  ;  and  the  boat  would  be  worth  $1,000  in- 
stead of  $100.  But  would  the  rate  of  interest 
be  changed?  Not  in  the  least.  There  would 
be  no  more  boats,  and  a  boat  would  carry  no 
more  bricks.  It  would  take  just  as  much  labor 
to  carry  a  thousand  bricks  when  the  value  of 
the  boat  was  expressed  by  $1,000  as  when  it 
was  expressed  by  $100.  Therefore,  the  rela- 
tion, which  determines  the  percentage  of  labor 
to  be  given  in  exchange  for  the  use  of  a  certain 
quantity  of  saved  labor, would  remain  the  same. 
The  borrower  would  have  to  pay  one-tenth  of 
the  value  of  the  boat  for  its  use,  which  would 
now  be  $100  instead  of  $10  per  year.  This  he 
could  afford  to  do,  because  he  could  get  the 
$100  as  easily  as  he  could  get  $10  before.  But 
where  would  he  be  benefited? 

It  is  true,  of  course,  that  a  change  in  the 
relative  value  of  legal  tender  always  works  in- 
justice so  far  as  outstanding  credits  are  con- 
cerned. For  instance,  if  a  man  purchases  a 
boat  which  exchanges  for  a  month's  work  of 
the  character  he  is  engaged  in,  represented 
by    $100,   and    agrees    to     pay     for     it  a  year 


I46  THE    RICE    MILLS 

afterward,  when,  on  account  of  the  change 
in  the  relative  value  of  money  that  same 
month's  work  is  worth  but  $50,  his  being 
required  to  pay  the  face  of  his  note  in 
legal  tender  would  necessitate  giving  two 
months'  work  for  what  he  intended  to  pay  a 
month's.  If  money  were  made  twice  as  easily 
obtainable,  the  man  who  sold  the  boat  would 
get  half  a  month's  work  when  he  sold  it  for  a 
month's.  In  either  case,  there  is  great  injustice 
and  one  honestly  intent  upon  securing  justice 
to  all,  should  guard  against  changing  the  value 
of  money  in  either  direction.  In  my  judgment, 
it  behooves  government  to  see  that  the  value 
of  its  legal  tender  maintains  the  same  relation 
to  the  general  scale  of  wages,  or,  what  is  the 
same  thing,  the  general  scale  of  values.  Where 
the  prices  of  commodities  generally  rise,  it 
shows  that  the  legal  tender  representative  of 
value  is  plentiful  ;  when  they  fall,  it  shows,  not 
that  there  is  a  chronic  state  of  overproduction 
or  anything  of  that  kind,  but  that  money  is 
scarce. 

"But,  returning  to  our  subject,  there  is  no 
reason  to  think  that  other  nations  would  want 
our  precious  metal  more  than  we  theirs.  If 
they  did,  there  has  never  been  anything  to 
prevent  their  getting  it.  There  never  has  been 
any  restriction  upon  the  exportation  or    impor- 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I47 

tation  of  the  precious  metals.  Two-thirds  of 
the  people  of  the  globe  do  not  use  gold  for 
money  purposes  and  have  no  particular  use 
for  it.  It  does  not  multiply  itself,  does  not 
assist  in  production  to  any  great  extent.  It  is 
no  more  good  economy  for  a  government  to 
have  a  store  of  gold  on  hand  larger  than  busi- 
ness demands,  than  for  an  individual.  A 
wealthy  merchant  does  not  have  a  large  amount 
of  treasure  and  money  in  bank.  His  account 
is  generally  overdrawn. 

"Remember,  I  do  not  contend  that  if  a 
foreigner  should  volunteer  to  send  products  to 
this  country  without  any  return  whatever,  his 
donation  should  be  refused.  If,  for  the  pro- 
ducts of  a  certain  amount  of  our  labor,  he  will 
send  us  five  times  as  many  desired  objects  as 
the  labor  would  produce  at  home,  it  would  be  a 
wonderful  benefit  to  us ;  as  much  so  as  an 
invention  which  enabled  us  to  produce  the 
objects  with  one-fifth  the  present  labor.  If  he 
will  send  but  little  more,  it  is  but  very  little 
better  than  no  exchange  at  all ;  and  if  no  more, 
no  exchange  will  be  made." 


148  THE  RIC£   MILLS 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

MORE   RECORD 

"Mr.  Smalley  :  "Mr.  President,  these  gentle- 
men of  broad  ideas  have  a  fine  spun  theory 
about  wages  and  money,  too  delicate,  altogether, 
for  a  common  person  like  myself  to  compre- 
hend. It  is  one  thing  to  sit  in  a  study  and 
theorize  about  how  things  should  be,  and 
apply  the  plan  conceived  to  an  imaginary  state 
of  affairs,  but  quite  another  to  apply  it  to  the 
uneven  field  of  reality.  Do  not  the  gentlemen 
know  that  if  all  restrictions  are  removed  foreign 
manufacturers  will  flood  this  country  with 
cheap  goods,  at  less  than  cost  to  them,  if  need 
be ;  and  then,  when  our  factories  have  been 
sold  on  execution  and  converted  into  hay-sheds, 
and  our  artisans  have  become  idle  tramps  for 
want  of  something  to  do,  again  raise  the  price 
at  pleasure  far  above  the  legitimate  cost  of 
production  here  ;  so  that,  in  order  to  procure 
them,  we  will  have  to  send  abroad   even    more 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  149 

labor  than  would  be  required  to  produce  them 
at  home  if  our  factories  were  running?  Do 
the  Senators  rely  upon  the  great  love  of  the 
foreign  merchant  for  us,  or  for  humanity,  to 
dissuade  them  from  doing  this  very  thing? 
Again,  do  not  the  Senators  know  that  if  our 
people  are  compelled  to  manufacture  their  own 
products,  competition  among  themselves  will 
regulate  the  price,  and  finally  reduce  the  price 
below  the  foreign  price?  Has  not  the  price  of 
every  product  been  cheapened  in  the  past  by 
this  competition?  Where  would  the  numerous 
inventions  of  Americans  be,  if  we  had  always 
exchanged  grain  and  meat  for  our  manufactured 
products?  Does  not  the  enormous  wealth  and 
unprecedented  prosperity  of  our  nation 
attest  the  policy  of  such  restrictions?  When- 
ever exchanges  have  been  permitted, has  it  not 
resulted  in  financial  crises  and  panics?  Why 
do  not  the  Senators  consider  some  of  the  results 
of  the  application  of  their  principles,  instead 
of  composing  scientific  theses  to  show  that 
exchanges  tend  to  raise  wages?" 

Mr.  Seymour :  "Will  the  Senator  from 
Rhode  Island,  [Mr.  Smalley]  inform  us 
whether  he  believes  that  we  should  seek  to 
increase  or  reduce  the  amount  of  labor  neces- 
sary to  procure  objects?" 

Mr.  Smalley:     "I  believe  high  prices  should 


I50  THE    RICE    MILLS 

be  maintained  for  the  benefit  of  the  American 
laborer. " 

Mr.  Seymour:  "Suppose  an  hour's  work  of 
a  common  laborer,  as  he  is  called,  is  used  as 
the  unit  of  labor  with  which  is  compared,  and 
in  which  is  expressed,  all  other  grades  of  labor, 
so  that  all  articles  are  valued  and  exchanged 
on  the  basis  of  the  number  of  units  of  labor 
entering  into  them,  instead  of  the  units  of  value 
now  employed.  Does  the  Senator  mean  to  say 
that  changing  the  unit,  for  instance,  making  it 
two  hours  instead  of  one,  would  benefit  the 
American  laborer;  or  does  he  concede  this  to 
be  merely  a  change  in  name,  and  that  he 
would  have  to  work  just  as  long  and  just  as 
hard  for  the  object  he  desires,  whether 
that  labor  is  measured  by  units  of  two  hours, 
or  one  hour  or  half  an  hour,  and  whether  that 
unit,  whatever  it  is,  is  expressed  in  money 
value  by  the  words  two  dollars,  one  dollar  or 
half  a  dollar?" 

Mr.  Smalley :  "My  contention  is  that  by 
manufacturing  articles  here,  we  increase  the 
demand  for  labor,  which  tends  to  raise  wages. " 

Mr.  Seymour :  "Yes,  but  in  the  report  of 
the  committee  to  investigate  the  rice-mills,  of 
which  the  Senator  from  Rhode  Island  [Mr. 
Smalley]  was  a  member,  it  was  shown  beyond 
all  question,  that  this  increase   of   demand  for 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  151 

labor  to  produce  an  article  was  a  decrease  in 
the  demand  for  the  article  itself,  which  result- 
ing in  some  one  going  without  the  article  and 
some  one  else  going  without  employment  who 
might  otherwise  have  it,  and  on  the  whole 
tended  surely  and  materially  to  reduce  wages. 
I  would  like  to  ask  the  Senator  what  he  has 
to  say  about  that  report  now?" 

A  motion  was  here  made  that  the  Senate 
adjourn,  but  did  not  prevail. 

Mr.  New:  "I  would  like  to  ask  the  Senator 
a  question. " 

Mr.  Smalley :     "Certainly." 

Mr.  New:  "It  seems  this  process  of  domes- 
ticating an  industry  is  accompanied  by  a  huge 
swell,  as  it  were,  in  the  price  of  the  product, 
and,  of  course,  in  the  determinant, the  quantity 
of  labor  entering  into  it.  It  first  rises  above 
the  foreign,  on  account  of  the  restriction  placed 
upon  exchange,  and  then,  sooner  or  later,  falls 
below  it  on  account  of  the  competition  among 
domestic  manufacturers.  I  would  ask  which 
is  the  period  of  advantage  to  the  American 
workingman,  when  the  price  is  above  or  when 
it  is  below  the  world's  market  price?" 

The  previous  question  was  here  moved,  but 
the  Senate  refused  to  order  it. 

Mr.  Viter:  "It  strikes  me  the  statements 
and  arguments    of    the    Senator    from    Rhode 


152  THE    RICE    MILLS 

Island  [Mr.  Smalley]  are  directly  opposed  to 
those  of  the  committee  of  which  he  was  a 
member,  on  the  former  investigation  of  this 
matter,  and  quite  inconsistent  in  themselves. 
He  says  the  price  in  this  country  will  be  regu- 
lated by  the  law  of  competition,  and  intimates 
that  elsewhere  it  is  regulated  by  the  caprice 
of  foreigners.  The  Senator  seems  to  imagine 
that  the  law  of  competition  is  a  statute  of  the 
United  States.  He  arrogates  to  Congress  not 
only  the  power  to  determine,  by  its  laws  of 
restriction  and  competition,  the  price  of  com- 
modities at  home,  but  also  indirectly,  abroad  ; 
for,  if  Congress  permcte  exchanges,  the  foreign 
price  will  be  reduced  below  the  legitimate  cost 
of  production  here,  and  then,  when  our  indus- 
tries are  ruined,  will  be  raised  far  above  that 
price.  This  is  a  clear  case  of  the  tail  wagging 
the  dog.  Just  imagine  the  world's  market 
price  suddenly  dropping  and  then  as  suddenly 
rising,  covering  a  change  of  50  to  100  per 
cent.,  in  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  legislature 
of  a  nation,  comprising  one  thirty-fifth  of  the 
people  of  the  globe.  What  dominion  we  have 
over  the  nations  of  the  earth,  what  charm, 
what  soothing  influence,  that  by  our  laws  we 
harmonize  the  different  languages,  calm  in- 
herited hatreds  and  jealousies  among  the 
different  peoples,  so  that  some  of  them    volun- 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  153 

tarily  and  gratuitously  reduce  the  price  below 
cost  and  manufacture  at  a  loss  for  our  buyers 
until  our  industries  are  destroyed,  and  then  all 
simultaneously  raise  the  price  at  liberty. 
What  wonderful  beings  we  are,  that  we  can 
suspend  the  great  and  universal  law  of  compe- 
tition among  all  nations  (except  our  own)  even 
those  that  most  despise  our  laws  and  institu- 
tions. Of  course,  foreign  powers  have  no 
similar  influence  over  us.  We  have  no  such 
self-sacrificing  people,  to  manufacture  and 
ship  abroad  at  less  than  cost ;  nor  can  the 
price  be  raised  above  fair  remuneration,  be- 
cause competition  will  not  permit.  We  can 
hardly  help  marveling  at  the  almost  supernat- 
ural effect  of  competition  in  preventing  trusts 
and  combinations  among  our  people,  who  stop 
at  the  same  summer  resorts  and  winter  resorts 
and  watering-places,  and  travel  on  the  same 
special  trains,  and  stop  at  the  same  palace 
hotels  ;  who  are  brought  into  the  closest  rela- 
tionship by  language,  custom,  religion,patriot- 
ism,  generosity  and  sympathy  for  the  welfare 
of  the  dear  people,  and  upon  whom  are  exerted 
all  the  forces  of  human  passions  and  sympathies. 
As  against  all  these,  one  might  think  it  would 
be  necessary  to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  general 
competition  of  the  world.  Not  so.  We  sus- 
pend the  general  competition  most  marvelously, 


154  TIIE  R1CE  MILLS 

and  harmonize  all  the  repulsive  agencies  and 
tendencies  set  in  motion  at  Babel  and  which 
ever  since  have  caused  more  and  more  diver- 
gence, so  that  the  world's  market  price  rises 
and  falls  at  our  will.  We  cannot  give  ourselves 
too  much  praise  for  all  we  have  wrought  for 
the  poor  industrial  outlaws  of  other  lands. 
How  sad  would  have  been  their  lot  to-day,  if 
we  had  not  nourished  the  principle  of  compe- 
tition in  this  country  so  as  to  enable  us,  in  our 
great  love  for  humanity,  to  reduce  the  price 
of  their  products  among  themselves  to  within 
the  reach  of  their  masses.  Sometimes  it  is 
intimated  that  products  might  have  cheapened 
abroad  if  America  had  never  been  discovered, 
and  some  ungrateful  traitors  say  that  it  is  the 
general  competition  of  the  world  that  has  re- 
duced prices  here  more  than  anything  else,  but 
whenever  such  symptoms  of  insanity  are 
exhibited,  we  have  the  time-honored  remedy 
prescribed  so  effectively  by  our  predecessors, 
namely  :  'Take  steel  rails  for  instance  ;  has  not 
the  price  been  reduced  from  $150  per  ton  to 
$30  within  the  last  30  years?'  " 

Mr.  Seymour  :  "The  Senator's  prescription 
was  undoubtedly  good  medicine  in  its  day,  but 
now  that  aluminium  has  been  substituted  for 
steel  in  most  of  its  uses,  I  suggest  that  he 
take  aluminium  for  instance.     The  cost   of   its 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  1 55 

production  has  been  reduced    from    fifty    cents 
to  five  cents  per  pound  in  a  very  few  years." 

Mr.  Viter  :  "But  the  Senator  would  steal  the 
floor  in  the  old  way.  There  is  a  vast  difference 
between  aluminium  and  steel.  The  latter  has 
much  more  weight,  and  that  is  the  quality 
wanted  here.  The  importation  of  aluminium 
has  never  been  restricted,  and,  beside,  every 
one  knows  that  the  cause  of  the  reduction  in 
the  price  of  aluminium  has  no  connection  with 
the  question  of  exchanges.  But,  inasmuch  as 
the  Senator's  suggestion  is  irony  we  agree  sub- 
stantially, and  hence  I  yield  to  those  who  would 
contend. " 

Mr.  Commoner:  "Just  one  word,  Mr. 
President,  on  the  point  that  restrictions  made 
the  opportunity  for  invention.  I  can  hardly 
state  this  proposition  with  proper  sincerity. 
Exchange  is  one  of  the  most  common  and 
effective  labor-saving  devices ;  and  to  hear 
rational  people  talk  about  discouraging  the 
use  of  one  labor  saving  device  to  encourage 
the  invention  of  another,  seems  extremely 
ridiculous  to  me.  Why  not  prohibit  the  use 
of  aluminium  in  order  to  develop  the  iron 
industry,  or  discourage  progress  in  electricity 
in  order  to  encourage  further  inventions  and 
improvements  in  the  .  application  and  use  of 
steam?     But  that  is  not    what    I  had    in    mind 


1^6  THE    RICE    MILLS 

to  say,  Mr.  President.  The  United  States  has 
a  world-wide  reputation  for  inventive  genius. 
This  was  not  given  until  it  was  earned.  Now, 
in  what  branches  of  industry  do  we  find  our 
greatest  inventions,  improvements  and  labor- 
saving  expedients?  Disavowing,  of  course,  any 
ciaim  that  they  are  all  included  within  any  one 
class  of  industries,  I  ask  if  the  greatest  are 
not  in  these  industries  in  which  we  have 
always  not  only  permitted,  but  encouraged, 
exchanges,  and  in  those  by  which  exchanges 
are  effected.  Take  our  steam-boats,  railroads, 
electric  systems  of  telegraphs,  railways,  light 
and  power,  all  relating  to  commerce  and 
exchange ;  the  cotton  gin,  the  harvesting 
machines  and  all  our  wonderful  agricultural 
implements,  our  mighty  flouring-mills,  our 
wood- working  machines,  etc.,  all  in  industries 
whose  products  we  export,  and  therefore  in 
which  exchanges  are  encouraged.  More  than 
that,  our  power  of  production  in  those  indus- 
tries to  which  we  are  most  naturally  adapted, 
has  thus  been  increased  so  rapidly  that  we  are 
able,  if  permitted  to  do  so,  to  procure  such 
articles  as  other  nations  can  more  cheaply 
produce,  with  comparatively  less  work  than 
ever  before.  An  hour's  work  in  any  of  our 
specialties  will  now  procure  from  abroad  a 
much     greater      excess,    proportionally,    over 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  157 

what  the  same  hour's  work  would  produce 
directly  in  the  specialty  of  some  foreign  nation, 
than  fifty  or  one  hundred  years  ago.  Therefore, 
ever  more  restriction  is  asked  for.  And  in  this 
way  we  continually  impoverish  and  discourage 
our  own  specialties  and  faculties  in  order  to 
encourage  some  one's  else.  This  is  never  good 
economy. 

"On  the  point  that  the  history  of  our  nation 
shows  that  the  removal  of  restrictions  results 
disastrously,  I  have  this  to  say:  The  greatest 
economists  and  statesmen  differ  as  to  the  causes 
of  these  crises.  The  ablest  say  they  resulted 
from  speculation,  from  sudden  change  in  the 
monetary  condition  of  the  country,  such  as  that 
effected  by  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California, 
the  extravagant  issuance  of  bank-notes,  etc. 
But,  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause,  when 
I  see,  as  I  think  I  do,  that  exchanges  must, 
on  the  whole,  benefit  and  enrich  the  people,  I 
am  convinced  something  else  is  responsible 
for  them.  A  system  under  which  exchanges 
would  make  the  individual  richer,  cannot,  by 
aggregation,  make  the  whole  poorer.  The 
whole  is  always  equal  to  the  sum  of  all  its 
parts.  This  is  just  as  true  of  the  aggregation 
of  individuals  under  the  name  of  government, 
as  the  aggregation  of  sectors  under  the  name 
circle,  although  there  have    been    times    when 


I58  THE    KICK    MILLS 

the  laws  of  government  and  of  the  circle  were 
believed  to  be  unique  and  supernatural,  and 
the  best  of  people  were  content  to  remain  in 
superstitious  ignorance  concerning  them.  It 
may  well  be,  too,  that  if  an  unhealthy  condi- 
tion has  been  developed,  a  sudden  and  extreme 
change  might  prove  disastrous.  A  fever  must 
not  be  too  suddenly  stopped — but  that  is  no 
argument  in  favor  of  the  fever.  Before  a 
proper  remedy  can  be  applied,  however,  it 
must  be  decided  whether  the  complaint  is 
really  beneficial  or  detrimental.  That  is  the 
question  now  before  us  in  respect  to  laws 
relating  to  exchanges." 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  159 


CHAPTER  XIX 

LEMON   CULTURE   IN   WASHINGTON 

Mr.  North:  "Mr.  President,  I  beg  leave  to 
answer  a  point  made  by  the  committee.  One 
of  the  most  effective  arguments  in  favor  of  the 
present  system  has  always  been  that  exchanges 
benefit  some  foreign  country,  generally  the 
one  against  which  there  is  r.he  strongest  preju- 
dice on  the  part  of  the  greatest  number  of  con- 
trollable voters.  The  most  common  form  of 
statement  is  that  exchanges  benefit  England. 
It  is  then  left  to  prejudice  to  decide  that 
they  shall  not  be  made.  The  full  logic  may  be 
expressed  in  two  syllogisms :  First,  when  a 
rational  people  want  to  exchange  with  us,  it 
is  because  it  benefits  them.  The  English  are 
a  rational  people  and  want  to  exchange  with 
us.  Therefore,  exchanges  with  us  benefit 
England.  The  facts  set  forth  in  the  premises 
are  indisputable  and  the  conclusion  unavoid- 
able.    The    second    syllogism,    in    which    the 


l6o  THE    RICE    MILLS 

major  premise  is  never  expressed,  may  be 
stated  as  follows :  An  exchange  is  always 
beneficial  to  one  party  and  detrimental  to  the 
other.  An  exchange  between  an  American 
and  an  Englishman  benefits  England.  There- 
fore, such  an  exchange  is  detrimental  to  the 
United  States.  If  the  premises  are  true,  this 
conclusion  is  irresistible.  The  error  is  in  the 
first  premise,  and  results  from  applying  the 
principles  of  gaming,  instead  of  the  principles 
of  production.  In  the  former,  there  is  no 
change  of  value,  utility  or  desire.  Each  party 
wants  the  object  as  much  as  the  other.  If  one 
gets  it  the  other  loses  it.  The  one  gains  just 
what  the  other  loses,  and  the  one  that  loses 
gets  nothing.  A  legitimate  exchange  is  a 
species  of  production.  Each  party  gives  an 
object  which  the  other  wants,  and  receives  one 
that  he  wants.  The  objects  are  one  step 
nearer  the  consumer.  Their  power  of  satisfy- 
ing desire  is  greater.  Otherwise,  there  would 
have  been  no  exchange.  A  legitimate  trade 
may  be  distinguished  from  a  gambling  deal  by 
its  benefiting  both  parties.  Restrictive  laws 
give  certain  articles  greater  value,  that  is, 
greater  power  of  commanding  objects  in 
exchange.  This  increased  purchasing  power, 
his  monopoly,  bonus,  or  whatever  it  may  be 
called,    is    exactly      counter-balanced    by    the 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  l6l 

diminished  purchasing  power,  decreased  wages, 
tax,  or  whatever  this  may  be  called,  of  the 
producers  of  other  commodities.  As  to  the 
bonus  or  tax  element  of  the  value,  the  home 
producer  makes  just  what  the  consumer  loses, 
and  to  this  extent,  it  is  a  gambling  deal. 
Since  such  inflated  prices  have  always  been 
common  in  this  country,  it  is  not  to  be 
wondered  at  that  people  look  upon  all  ex- 
changes as  partaking  the  nature  of  gambling. 
"Which  of  the  Senators  goes  from  shop  to 
shop  until  he  finds  the  sign  of  the  three  balls 
and  the  man  with  a  long-tailed  coat,  where 
sales  are  made  just  for  your  benefit,  whose 
owner  would  rather  keep  the  goods  on  his 
shelves  than  allow  you  to  take  them  away  for 
less  than  cost — almost  nothing— etc.,  but  who, 
nevertheless,  will  sacrifice  his  own  interests  to 
benefit  you?  Beware  of  a  deal  that  benefits  one 
party  only,  especially  when  it  seems  beyond 
doubt  that  you  are  the  party  benefited.  Many 
ill-advised  bargains  are  unquestionably  made. 
But  on  the  whole,  I  will  risk  a  Yankee  to 
keep  up  his  end  of  a  trade.  Such  as  cannot 
do  so,  should  be  placed  under  duly  qualified 
guardians  ;  but  let  us  avoid  the  imputation  of 
impotency  which  results  from  assuming  a 
general  guardianship  over  the  affairs  of  others, 
lest  they    make    improvident    deals,  especially 


l62  THE    RICE    MILLS 

in  view  of  the  financial  records  of  some  of  this 
august  board  of  self-constituted  guardians  of 
the  business  affairs  of  our  people. 

"Just  think  of  our  egotism  and  self-conceit. 
The  world  is  full  of  undeveloped  opportunities, 
and  full  of  shrewd  business  men,  always  on 
the  alert  to  make  use  of  them.  Imagine  such 
an  opportunity.  Here  comes  a  shrewd  specu- 
lator. He  figures  carefully  and  closely,  con- 
cludes there  is  'nothing  in  it,'  and  passes  on. 
Next  comes  the  specialist,  the  man  of  mature 
judgment  and  years  of  experience.  He  figures 
the  cost  of  development  and  operation,  and 
the  value  of  the  product.  He  anticipates  the 
future  so  far  as  practicable.  Upon  an  elaborate 
investigation  and  consideration,  he  concludes 
that  it  would  not  be  a  paying  investment  ;  that 
taking  everything  into  account,  business 
economy  does  not  warrant  the  investment  of 
labor  and  capital.  Next  comes  the  newspaper 
man,  lawyer,  politician,  and  says  they  are  all 
mistaken;  that  it  will  pay;  and  proceeds  to 
make  it  pay.  Nevertheless,  such  a  business 
does  not  pay  in  an  economic  sense.  The  fact 
that  men  must  be  hired  to  go  into  it  proves 
that  they  can  make  more  at  something  else. 
Now,  why  bribe  men  to  quit  a  more  productive, 
to  enter  into  a  less  productive,  industry?  You 
say  it  is  only  for  a    little    while  ;  that    it    will, 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  1 63 

soon  pay,  and  then  the  people  will  get  their 
money  back.  But  if  it  would  pay  in  ^any 
business  sense  of  the  expression,  private  enter- 
prise would  develop  it,  and  when  private 
business  management  cannot  make  an  industry 
pay,  it  is  folly  for  government  to  undertake  it. 
As  soon  as  it  is  good  economy  to  undertake 
the  enterprise,  some  one  will  do  it  without  our 
interference  ;  and  bad  economy  cannot  be  good 
government. 

"The  waste  of  the  people's  wealth  and  energy 
by  such  adventures  is  astounding.  It  is 
measured  by  the  sum  of  all  the  bonuses  paid 
to  hire  men  to  leave  more  productive  and 
engage  in  less  productive  industries ;  that  is, 
the  difference  between  what  it  costs  to  procure 
articles  without  the  aid  of  exchanges,  and  that 
cost  with  exchanges,  where  advantageous. 
The  additional  expense  of  some  commodities 
is  small  and  of  others  frightfully  large.  A 
nation  must  be  highly  favored  with  nature's 
bounty,  which  can  stay  in  the  race  for  commer- 
cial supremacy  of  the  world  with  such  extrava- 
gant habits. 

"I  have  been  expecting  some  Senator  to  make 
the  customary  argument  that  the  American 
manufacturers  are  not  getting  the  increased 
cost  resulting  from  restriction  of  exchanges. 
There  is  a  long    story,  you    know,  about    how 


164  THE    RICE    MILLS 

the  manufacturer  works  fifteen  hours  a  day  and 
lies  awake  nights  thinking  over  his  business  ; 
and  how  the  wealthy  men  of  the  nation  have 
become  so  by  rise  in  land  values,  by  railroad 
deals  and  steals,  by  production  under  the 
exclusive  right  of  patents,  etc.,  and  that  is  so. 
If  any  one  will  stop  to  think  for  a  moment,  he 
cannot  but  be  convinced  that  it  is  utterly 
impossible  to  produce  a  million  dollars  of 
wealth  in  a  life  time.  If  one  amasses  so  much 
as  that,  he  must  take  it  from  many  others  who 
have  produced  it.  In  order  to  do  this,  he 
must  have  a  way  of  getting  products  without 
giving  anything  in  exchange.  This  'way'  or 
means  or  power  is  justly  called  a  monopoly. 
Every  restriction  on  competition  tends  to 
monopoly,  as  the  term  itself  implies ;  and 
in  highly  specialized  industries,  or  those  in 
which  small  quantities  of  products  are  demand- 
ed, and  in  those  requiring  enormous  invest- 
ments of  capital  to  economically  carry  them 
on,  this  effect  is  very  manifest.  In  a  country 
of  such  general  intercourse  and  intercommuni- 
cation, and  among  a  people  so  closely  related 
in  language,  customs,  thoughts  and  interests, 
it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  all  sorts  of 
combinations  grow  up  which,  in  the  absence  of 
foreign  competition,  are  able  to  and  do  sus- 
pend the  law  of  competition  within  the  limits 


OF   PORT   MYSTERY  1 65 

of  the  country ;  and  by  the  monopoly  thus 
obtained  many  men  have  become  millionaires, 
as  every  one  of  you  must  admit.  But  it  has 
been  repeatedly  asserted  in  this  chamber  that 
the  amount  of  the  admitted  expense  of  this 
system  of  restriction  does  not  go  to  the  manu- 
facturers and  that,  therefore,  it  must  go  to  the 
laborers  employed  in  that  industry.  Now, 
whatever  may  be  the  ethics  of  the  practice  of 
taking  the  earnings  of  those  engaged  in  one 
industry,  and  giving  them  to  those  engaged  in 
another, certain  it  is  that  such  employees  neither 
earn  nor  get  the  amount  representing  this  in- 
creased cost. 

"The  climate  of  the  state  of  Washington  is 
so  mild  and  equable  that  with  very  little  artifi- 
cial heat,  easily  applied,  it  could  supply  its 
own  market  with  lemons.  This  industry 
would  furnish  a  new  field  of  employment,  and, 
for  what  I  know,  might  encourage  invention  of 
labor-saving  devices  and  methods  for  the 
operation  of  green-houses.  Suppose  now  it  is 
proposed  to  encourage  this  industry,  in  order 
to  secure  the  benefits  set  forth  in  the  report  of 
the  committee.  Imagine  some  public-spirited 
man  attempting  to  persuade  others  to  develop 
the  industry  for  the  benefit  of  the  community. 
They  would  without  doubt  peremptorily  refuse, 
with    perhaps   a  tinge    of    resentment    for    the 


1 66  THE    RICE    MILLS 

business  incompetency  imputed  to  them  by 
the  proposal.  Imagine  then  a  politician  at- 
tempting the  same  thing,  but  in  a  'business' 
way.  He  would  go  to  one  engaged  in  manu- 
facturing lumber  we  will  suppose  and 
say,  'We  want  the  lemon  industry  developed  in 
this  state.  Of  course  it  will  not  pay,  or  all 
the  power  in  the  country  could  not  keep  you 
out  of  it.  Now  how  much  will  )'ou  take  to 
raise  lemons  instead  of  manufacturing  lumber?' 
The  capitalist  would  figure  the  probable  pre- 
dictiveness  of  the  new  concern  and  report  that 
he  would  raise  lemons  at  $1.00  per  dozen. 
Their  cost  on  the  market  is  perhaps  twenty- 
five  cents.  Therefore,  he  says,  if  he  is  given  a 
bonus  of  seventy-five  cents  per  dozen,  (and 
of  course  a  little  extra  to  induce,  him  to  change 
and  to  cover  the  hazardous  nature  of  property 
in  bonuses,  )  he  will  raise  lemons.  This  bonus 
may  be  made  up  in  two  ways.  First,  directly, 
by  paying  to  him  seventy-five  cents  for  every 
dozen  lemons  put  upon  the  market ;  and, 
secondlv,  by  restricting  the  introduction  of 
lemons  from  abroad,  which  would  give  him  the 
power  to  charge  as  much  as  he  chose  for  them 
except  as  limited  by  home  competition. 
Because  of  the  instability  of  the  investment 
resulting  from  the  uncertainty  of  maintaining 
such  a  system,  and  of  the  small  demand  at    so 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  167 

high  a  price,  labor  and  capital  would  not  be 
specially  attracted  to  the  industry ;  and  as 
long  as  he  sold  lemons  at  anything  like  a 
reasonable  price,  there  would  not  be  much 
danger  of  competition.  The  cost  of  the  re- 
strictive method  would  not  be  so  apparent,  and 
therefore  there  would  not  be  so  strict  an 
account  kept  as  in  case  of  the  direct  bonus. 
For  these  among  other  reasons,  the  proprietor 
would  be  enabled  to  make  a  little  something 
out  of  his  monopoly,  in  addition  to  the  neces- 
sary bonus:  and  it  is  because  of  this  that, instead 
of  the  politician  going  to  the  capitalist,  the 
capitalist  goes  to  the  politician,  for  the 
enactment  of  the  necessary  laws  for  the  public 
welfare.  But,  however  this  may  be,  and 
whichever  way  the  bonus  is  made  up,  home 
grown  lemons  would  cost  the  people  of  the 
state  seventy-five  cents  per  dozen  more  than 
necessary,  and  the  question  is,  who  gets  the 
seventy-five  cents?  You  say  the  capitalist  and 
the  manufacturer  does  not ;  for,  you  say,  if  he 
was  making  more  than  a  reasonable  profit  on 
his  investment,  others  would  learn  of  it  and 
at  once  set  about  securing  a  share  for  them- 
selves. Competition  would  begin  and  reduce 
the  profits  to  the  proper  amount.  And  I  say 
the  laborer  does  not  get  it,  because,  if  he  did, 
laborers  would  compete  for  jobs  in  the    green- 


l68  THE    RICE    MILLS 

house,  and  we  all  know  it  is  contrary  to  human 
nature  that  an  employer  should  retain  men 
when  just  as  good  are  at  his  door,  offering  to 
work  for  less.  Competition  reduces  wages 
as  well  as  profits.  Therefore,  wages  in  this 
industry  would  be  adjusted  to  the  general  scale 
for  work  of  that  kind.  Well,  who  gets  the 
seventy-five  cents?  There  are  no  foreigners  in 
the  case,  so  they  do  not  get  it.  Who  gets  it? 
"Right  here  is  the  rub.  If  somebody  only 
got  it,  (somebody  beside  foreigners,  of  course,  ) 
there  might  be  some  excuse  for  such  a  system. 
If  it  amounted  to  taking  one  man's  property 
and  giving  it  to  another,  however  much  mis- 
chief might  result  from  the  moral  effect  of  the 
system  and  its  tendency  to  discourage  honest 
labor,  we  could  at  least  console  ourselves  with 
the  thought  that,  so  far  as  this  property  was 
concerned,  it  was  somewhere.  If  the  man  who 
earned  it  did  not  have  it,  some  one  else  did. 
But  here  all  hands  get  no  more  than  they 
would  if  they  were  manufacturing  lumber  to 
be  shipped  away  to  pay  for  four  or  five  times 
as  many  lemons  at  one-fourth  the  price. 
What  becomes  of  it?  It  is  simply  wasted.  It 
is  the  price  of  man's  folly  and  presumptuousness 
in  contending  against  the  immutable  laws  of 
nature.  Express  it  as  you  may,  there  are 
certain  preferred  courses  of  action  or    lines    of 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I 69 

least  resistance  arising  out  of  the  constitution 
of  the  material  world,  and  others  arising  out 
of  its  habitation  and  the  development  of  the 
different  nations,  which  prescribe  man's  indus- 
trial conduct,  the  same  as  other  laws  prescribe 
his  moral  and  physical  conduct ;  to  contravene 
which  incurs  a  penalty  commensurate  with  the 
offense.  If,  instead  of  applying  themselves  to 
the  production  of  those  things  which  existing 
conditions  most  favor,  the  people  of  Washing- 
ton construct  costly  green-houses,  and,  by  the 
expenditure  of  labor,  artificially  bring  about 
the  conditions  necessary  to  the  production  of 
lemons,  when,  on  some  other  part  of  the  earth, 
nature  gratuitously  furnishes,  heats,  lights  and 
waters  boundless  green-houses  for  their  pro- 
duction, the  people  must  simply  pay  for  it. 
Not  one  pay  another,  but  all  sacrifice  to 
nature.  The  entire  amount  of  labor,  or  the 
amount  of  products  the  labor  might  have  pro- 
duced, is  burned  up,  and  those  engaged  in  the 
performance  of  such  labor,  economically  con- 
sidered, are  as  if  doing  nothing;  and  of  course 
some  one  else  is  supporting  them.  The  power 
by  which  this  support  is  levied,  lies  in  the 
monopoly  created  by  the  restrictive  laws. 

"You  may  say  that  this  carries  a  correct 
principle  to  an  absurdity,  but  I  say  if  this  is 
an  absurdity  and  the  'principle'    is    carried    to 


170  THE    RICE    MILLS 

it,  it  is  not  a  correct  principle.  And  whether 
the  difference  in  condition  is  brought  about  by 
climatic  laws,  or  results  from  the  time,  man- 
ner or  character  of  population  of  the  different 
parts  of  the  world,  or  from  the  distribution  of 
nature's  bounties,  matters  not.  The  resulting 
laws  of  industry  are  the  same,  and  their  disre- 
gard must  inevitably  impoverish  or  destroy  the 
industrial  welfare  of  the  nation. 

"And,  in  conclusion,  it  seems  that  no  labor- 
ing man,  or  man  of  moderate  means,  can  look 
upon  the  necessary  effect  of  such  an  unnatural 
system,  without  appreciating,  at  least  to  a 
limited  degree,  the  weight  of  his  handicap, 
the  limitation  of  his  sphere  of  enterprise  and 
possibilities,  and  his  necessary  subjection  to 
the  dominion  of  monopoly  which,  by  base  in- 
trigues and  deception,  has  usurped  capital's 
power.  The  necessity  and  benefit  of  capital 
cannot  be  over-estimated.  It  is  the  instrument 
by  which  all  past  learning,  discovery  and  in- 
vention are  applied  for  our  benefit.  What 
good  to  us  wofild  be  all  the  knowledge  of  the 
principles  of  the  steam  engine,  if  no  one  ever 
stored  up  enough  labor  in  that  direction  to 
constitute  one?  The  right  of  the  producer  to 
his  wealth  must  be  protected,  for  who  will  be 
generous  enough  to  deny  himself  and  lay  by 
wealth  when  the  prospects  are  that  the  benefits 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  17* 

will  be  appropriated  by  others?  Everything 
should  be  done  to  bring  its  productive  aid  to 
every  toiler.  Unfortunately,  many  people  do 
not  seem  capable  of  saving  up  enough  capital 
for  their  own  use,  and  many  others  have  never 
had  a  fair  chance  to  do  so.  Great  fortunes 
are  exceedingly  few,  compared  with  population. 
To  every  man  worth  $10,000,  there  are  a 
dozen  worth  $5,000,  and  a  hundred  worth  $500. 
Now  the  effect  of  the  system  recommended 
by  the  committee  is,  to  require  more  capital 
in  order  to  engage  in  business.  If  one  is  to 
engage  in  mercantile  business,  his  goods  cost 
him  more.  If  he  is  a  farmer,  he  will  have  to 
pay  more  for  his  implements ;  and  the  same  is 
true  if  he  is  a  blacksmith,  a  carpenter,  or  any 
other  craftsman.  It  manifestly  tends  to  keep 
the  man  of  smaller  means  out  of  a  business 
which  he  is  as  much  entitled  to  enter,  and  very 
likely  in  which  he  would  be  as  much  of  a  suc- 
cess, as  the  man  who  happens  to  have  a  larger 
capital.  Measureless  energy  and  genius  are 
thus  wasted  for  lack  of  a  chance  to  develop 
them.  Untold  natural  opportunities  lie  idle, 
not  for  lack  of  labor  to  develop  them,  but 
because  of  the  large  amount  of  capital  required, 
the  expense  of  maintaining  it  and  the  burden 
imposed  upon  that  industry  to  support  others. 
Hence,  for  every  great  industry  thus  artificially 


172  THE    RICE    MILLS 

raised  high  above  the  level  of  bankruptcy,  a 
dozen  smaller  ones  are  submerged.  To  estab- 
lish one  'diverse'  industry, several  are  destroyed. 
Dazzled  by  the  brilliancy  of  the  grand  prize, 
and  perhaps  flattered  with  the  hope  that  we 
may  draw  it,  we  overlook  the  countless  blanks 
lying  all  around  us  which  make  up  that  prize 
twice  over.  Then  there  is  the  humanitarian 
side  of  the  question.  Why  afflict  your  fellow- 
men  with  needless  burdens?  Why  compel 
them  to  shiver  and  freeze,  to  trudge  around  in 
the  hot  sun,  swinging  cradle  or  scythe,  to 
carry  brick  to  the  tops  of  buildings,  when  all 
this  could,  to  a  large  extent,  be  avoided?  It 
is  not  only  senseress — it  is  barbarous." 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY 


173 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE    REST  OF    THE   RECORD 

Mr.  Dodge :  "Everybody  admits,  Mr. 
President,  that  the  argument  is  with  unre- 
stricted exchange  as  an  abstract  principle.  It 
is  no  doubt  correct  in  theory,  but  the  question 
before  us  to-day  is  not  one  of  theory,  nor  of 
principle,  in  the  abstract.  This  the  Senators 
well  understand  ;  nevertheless,  they  dally  with 
fundamental  principles  which  all  admit  to  be 
true,  and  apply  them  to  imaginary  conditions 
in  the  realm  of  fancy  ;  and  because  they  are 
irrefutable  when  so  applied,  would  have  us 
adopt  them  in  the  government  of  a  nation  in 
this  world  of  reality,  with  all  its  friction  and 
contention.  The  Senators,  I  am  constrained 
to  believe,  purposely  overlook  the  glaring  fact 
that  we  have  a  government  to  support,  in 
order  to  which  a  large  income  must  be  raised 
in  some  manner;  and  that  the  primary  object 
of  the  system  in    question    is    the    support    of 


174  THE  RICE  MILLS 

government.  And  the)'  purposely  overlook  the 
fact  that  to  secure  peace,  we  must  prepare  for 
war — must  protect  our  coasts  with  heavy  armor, 
send  worthy  battle-ships  to  visit  every  port, 
and  cover  the  seas  with  American  seamen.  To 
do  which,  means  must  be  provided  in  some 
way.  A  very  important  element  of  strength  in 
time  of  war  lies  in  fully  developed  industries, 
making  us  independent  of  all  foreign  nations. 
It  should  be  secured  as  our  armor  is,  at  con- 
siderable expense,  if  need  be.  Do  the  Senators 
show  why  all  these  objects  cannot  be  attained 
by  the  system  they  so  fiercely  attack?  No, 
they  say  nothing  about  these  matters.  It  is 
all  theory  and  principle  with  them.  We  must 
have  an  income.  We  must  maintain  the 
dignity  and  independence  of  the  Great 
Republic." 

Mr.  Notchett :  "I  have  been  expecting  the 
point  just  made  by  the  Senator  from  Pennsyl- 
vania, [Mr.  Dodge]  ever  since  the  beginning 
of  the  argument.  Does  the  Senator  imagine 
he  has  a  plan  by  which  he  can  collect  a  tax  on 
an  article  without  an  exchange  by  which  it  is 
brought  into  this  country  ;  or,  if  there  is  any 
such  exchange,  does  he  think  that  the  foreign 
labor  represented  by  the  article  does  not  com- 
pete with  our  labor  and  displace  it  to  that 
extent?  that  in  addition  to  the   benefit    of    the 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  ^ , 

income  derived  from  its  coming  into  the 
country,  we  may  also  encourage  home  industry 
and  have  the  benefits  incident  to  keeping  it 
out?  In  other  words,  I  understand  that  the 
Senator  would  eat  his  cake  and  keep  it  at  the 
same  time. 

"This  is  not  a  question  of  taxation  at  all       If 
it  were,  there  might  be    serious    doubt    as    to 
whether    it    is    the    best  system.      The    whole 
occasion  for  and    purpose    of    the   law     is    not 
the  levying    of    a    tax,  but    the    restriction    of 
exchanges,  in    order    to    secure    the    beneficial 
effect,  not  of  exchange,  but    of    non-exchange. 
I  he  two  questions  are  entirely  distinct.      When 
one  effect  is  obtained,  the  other   is  lost      It  is 
true,  a  system  may    be    devised    which    might 
operate    sometimes    one    way    and    sometimes 
another-permit  exchange  one  time  and  restrict 
it  next-^according  to  the  will  of  the  purchaser 
of  commodities    at    some    distant    store.      But 
the  sole  question  now    under   consideration  is 
whether  a  system    which    operates    to    restrict 
exchange,  or   so    far    as,  or    when,  or    to    the 
extent  that,  or  in  a  case  where  it  does,  operate 
to  restrict  an  exchange  which  would  otherwise 
be  made,  is,  in  respect  to  this  quality,  beneficial 
or   detrimental    to    our    people     as     a    whole 
Though  the  present  system  might    be    the    best 
means  of  securing  an  income  to  support  govern- 


176  THE    RICE    MILLS 

ment,  it  does  not  give  force  to  the  arguments 
made  by  the  committee  in  favor  of  restriction 
of  exchange.  The  question  is  as  to  the  validity 
of  these  arguments.  The  Senators  maintain 
that  the  system  by  reason  of  its  restrictive 
properties  is  advantageous  to  our  people.  They 
are  not  here  to  support  it  if  this  principle  of 
restriction  should  be  proven  injurious  on  its 
own  merits." 

Mr.  Franklin  :  "Though  the  time  fixed  for 
the  vote  on  this  bill  is  nearly  upon  us,  I  wish 
to  protest  against  that  part  of  the  remarks  of 
my  colleague  [Mr.  Dodge]  relating  to  our 
defenses.  I  know  the  Senator  quotes  an  old 
adage,  and  perhaps  reflects  the  popular  opinion. 
Nevertheless,  I  doubt  the  wisdom  of  his 
remarks.  While  I  shall  refuse  at  this  time  to 
declare  my  position  on  the  merits  of  the  bill, 
I  feel  impelled  formally  to  except  to  the 
doctrine  of  force.  The  religion  of  my  ancestors 
many  years  ago  discarded  the  principle  as 
unnecessary  to  peace,  honor,  independence  and 
happiness.  And  it  is  believed  that  every 
intelligent  person  has  substantially  done  like- 
wise, as  to  his  own  personal  conduct.  The 
first  consideration  in  every  enlightened  family 
is  to  train  and  educate  the  children  in  the 
ways  of  peace  and  happiness.  Yet,  where  is 
the  mother  who  supplies  her  boys  with  daggers, 


OF   PORT   MYSTERY  1 77 

pistcJs  and  brass-knuckles,  and  exercises  them 
in  their  use,  in  order  to  prepare  them  for 
peace? — who  reads  from  the  daily  newspapers 
the  narrations  of  prize-fights,  sporting-matches 
and  duels;  who,  taking  thought,  dresses  them 
up  as  soldiers  and  policemen  to  strut  around 
the  house  with  clubs  and  guns  as  embryo  peace- 
makers? Desiring  to  do  so,  how  could  a 
mother  better  inculcate  a  quarreling  and  fighting 
disposition?  Doubtless  children  are  sometimes 
raised  in  this  way,  and  they  almost  invariably 
bear  the  marks  of  their  training.  But  the 
sturdy  men  of  ev^ry  age  have  been  taught 
from  infancy  to  have  some  honorable  business 
of  their  own,  and  to  attend  to  it;  to  be  gentle, 
upright  and  forbearing.  To  be  sure,  as  has 
been  spoken  here  to-day,  there  is  a  general 
impression — a  relic  of  the  doctrine  of  the 
divine  right  of  kings  and  kindred  superstitions 
by  which  the  wily  enslaved  the  ignorant  in 
times  not  so  long  ago  that  I  care  to  emphasize 
it — that  government  is  ruled  by  a  special  set 
of  principles  known  only  to  Congressmen,  and 
differing  materially, and  generally  diametrically, 
from  those  applied  to  individuals,  families, 
corporations  and  other  aggregations  of  men. 
But  in  this  I  do  not  share.  I  belive  that 
government,    like    the    several    members     who 

compose  it,  should  itself  engage  in    an    honest 
12 


178  THE    RICE    MILLS 

and  upright  business,  and  encourage  its  people 
in  doing  likewise — should  be  just  and  manly. 
Such  a  nation  is  more  likely  to  be  let  alone. 
Nothing  could  be  more  conducive  to  war  than 
a  large  army  of  idle  men,  trained  specially  in 
that  art,  reading,  talking  and  thinking  of  little 
else  than  the  wholesale  destruction  of  life  and 
property.  Standing  armies  have  always  been 
the  tool  of  the  minority  to  coerce  the  majority. 
They  are  a  standing  menace  to  internal  peace. 
Had  there  been  no  arms  and  munitions  of  war, 
no  class  of  people  versed  in  their  use,  and  no 
cultivated  system  of  oppression  sustained  by 
force,  we  should  have  been  spared  the  most 
painful  blot  on  our  fair  history. 

"And,  in  any  event,  it  was  said  away  back 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  by  Montecuculi, 
the  great  Italian  warrior  and  by  far  the  most 
celebrated  general  of  his  time,  that  the  first 
requisite  in  war  was  money,  the  next,  more 
money,  and  the  next,  still  more  money.  At 
that  time  wars  lasted  generations.  It  was 
largely  a  trial  of  physical  strength  and  endur- 
ance. A  large  man  was  equal  to  several  small 
ones.  The  most  effective  engines  of  war  known 
cost  but  little,  and  the  advantage  in  their  use 
was  very  inconsiderable.  But  all  this  is 
changed.  Now  the  strongest  nation  would  be 
exhausted  in  a  year  or  two.     The  delicate  per- 


OK    PORT    MYSTERY  I 79 

ception  and  gentle  touch  of  the  small  man  are 
now  more  valuable  than  the  physique  of  the 
giant.  They  enable  him  better  to  regulate  the 
force  of  the  electric  current  which  directs  the 
movement  of  the  aerial  torpedo  over  rivers, 
hills,  forests,  moats  and  battlemented  walls, 
and  causes  it  to  descend  into  the  very  heart  of 
the  strongest  fortification  with  mathematical 
precision,  and  there  to  liberate  its  giant  forces 
to  work  dire  havoc  with  everything  for  miles 
around.  Or,  to  guide  a  similar  engine  beneath 
the  water,  to  annihilate  some  unsuspecting 
vessel  far  away.  Or,  if  need  be,  to  himself 
travel  within  the  enemy's  lines  by  this  wonder- 
ful means  of  conveyance,  for  the  purpose  of 
locating  the  vital  parts  for  destruction.  And 
the  small  man  has  all  the  time  the  advantage 
of  being  a  smaller  mark  for  the  enemy.  There 
is  no  limit  to  the  expense  of  war  mechanisms, 
and  their  efficacy  increases  with  the  square  of 
the  cost.  What  was  true  in  regard  to  mone)' 
(or  as  it  should  be  expressed,  'wealth')  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  is  a  thousand  times  more 
emphatic  to-day.  The  physical  control  of 
nations,  like  that  of  individuals,  is  comprised 
in  the  industrial  control.  Therefore,  the  best 
way  to  make  ourselves  invincible  in  war,  is  to 
aggregate  wealth.  This  is  done  by  each  indi- 
vidual engaging  in  that  occupation  which  he  has 


l8o  THE    RICE    MILLS 

learned  is  most  profitable,  and  there  employ- 
ing every  help  available  to  make  his  labor 
most  effective. 

"In  an  economic  point  of  view,  a  nation 
with  a  large  portion  of  its  population  parading 
the  streets  of  the  cities,  or  idly  sailing  the 
seas,  can  no  more  acquire  or  maintain  com- 
mercial supremacy  in  competition  with  a  nation 
of  workers,  than  a  family,  a  part  of  whose 
members  are  loafers,  can  compete  in  business 
with  an  industrious  family.  Every  day  of 
idleness,  and  every  day  spent  in  constructing 
fortifications  and  building  armed  vessels,  and 
ever}7  day  spent  in  production  to  supply 
material  and  provisions  for  such  purposes,  is 
wasted.  Just  think  how  much  good  could  be 
done,  how  much  happiness  caused,  if  this 
labor  were  expended  in  the  production  of 
objects  designed  to  make  toil  easier  and  people 
better  and  happier,  instead  of  making  them 
sad  and  desolate.  As  to  covering  the  seas 
with  American  seamen,  I  am  by  no  means 
certain  of  its  desirability. 

"The  employment  is  of  such  a  nature  that  it 
breaks  up  the  family — the  security  for  all  pros- 
perity—it is  destructive  of  ambitions  and  morals 
and  tends  not  at  all  to  the  elevation  of  the 
individual.  If  it  is  more  profitable  than 
working  on  land  and    hiring    it    done,  he  will, 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  181 

of  course,  engage  in  it ;  but  I  am  decidedly 
opposed  to  hiring  my  neighbor  to  quit  a  more 
profitable  business  to  enter  into  such  a  demor- 
alizing employment.  The  charms  and  adven- 
tures of  the  deep  blue  sea  and  life  on  the  ocean 
wave  are  all  right  in  poetry  and  song,  but  the 
solid  land  of  free  America  is  good  enough  for 
us." 

Here  the  hammer  fell. 

The  President :  "Senators,  we  will  now 
proceed  to  vote  on  the  motion  pursuant  to  the 
order. " 

Mr.  Short:  "Mr.  President,  inasmuch  as 
this  is  by  far  the  most  important  measure 
before  the  Senate— the  subject  has  always  been 
the  most  important  Congress  has  had  to  deal 
with — and  at  this  very  hour  the  number  of 
producers  and  the  amount  of  capital  affected 
so  far  exceed  that  on  any  previous  considera- 
tion of  such  measures,  when  months  have  been 
devoted  to  the  question,  it  looks  to  me  like 
neglect  of  duty  and  betrayal  of  trust  to  vote 
upon  this  measure  according  to  the  order.  I 
have  myself  been  unable  to  gain  the  floor.  If 
I  had  been,  I  could  not  have  done  justice  to 
so  ponderous  a  subject,  without  special  prepar- 
ation. In  order  to  an  intelligent  vote  on  the 
subject,  we  should  have  an  opportunity  to 
investigate  into    the    condition    of    trade    and 


l82  THE    RICE    MILLS 

collect  facts  and  statistics  and  have  them  pre- 
sented here  for  our  consideration  and  enlight- 
enment. Coming  up  on  short  notice,  we  have 
been  able  to  speak  only  on  general  principles, 
while  this  question  depends  upon  the  present 
state  of  facts.  Therefore,  I  move  that  we  take 
up  the  further  consideration  of  this  bill  two 
weeks  from  this  day,  and  make  it  the  special 
order  until.disposed  of." 

Mr.  Bright:  "What  is  the  use — may  as  well 
try  to  move  a  mountain  with  handspikes  as  one 
of  these  Senators  with  arguments  on  this 
question.  Every  member  is  perfectly  familiar 
with  it,  and  why  delay  this  vote  while  my 
people  unnecessarily  and  involuntarily  go  idle 
and  hungry,  in  order  that  Senators  may  write 
campaign  literature  for  free  distribution  in  the 
Congressional  Record — " 

Mr.  Smalley  :  "I  call  the  Senator  to  order. " 
The  record  would  probably  no  longer  be 
interesting.  The  motion  to  postpone  carried. 
When  the  bill  came  up  again  in  its  order,  there 
were  speeches  enough  on  the  subject  to  make 
a  small  library.  Only  a  few  were  delivered, 
the  others  being  handed  in  and  printed.  The 
census  of  the  United  States  was  made  a  verit- 
able kaleidoscope.  All  shapes  and  forms  and 
fancies  were  shown  in  rapid  succession,  each 
as  true  and  plain  as   the   others.     Full    paged 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I 83 

tables  of  comparative  statistics  of  different 
states  and  countries  represented  work,  not  of 
a  few  score  Senators,  but  of  thousands  of 
skilled  men.  The  national  capital  was  imme- 
diately besieged  with  the  agents  and  attorneys 
of  numerous  manufacturers  who  came  in  the 
interest  of  the  laborer,  so  they  said,  whose 
wages  would  be  reduced,  or  cease  entirely. 
The  officers  of  corporations,  the  capitalists  and 
speculators,  every  one  who  had  any  influence, 
religious,  patriotic,  political,  personal  or  finan- 
cial, whether  liquidated  or  not,  happened  to  be 
in  the  Capital.  Money  flowed  as  freely  as  the 
Potomac.  Such  a  season  of  revelry  was  never 
known  on  American  soil,  no  matter  how  grave 
and  important  to  the  people  the  subject  under 
consideration  may  have  been ;  and  it  may  even 
be  doubted  whether  the  exaggerated  pictures  of 
the  carousals  of  ancient  times  could  equal  it. 
It  seemed  as  if  there  was  no  argument  in  favor 
of  the  bill.  Yet  it  was  known  that  the  House 
of  Representatives  would  surely  pass  it,  the 
President  favored  it  and  its  fate  in  the  Senate 
was  a  question  of  serious  doubt.  After  all 
had  become  sufficiently  informed  and  had 
sufficiently  informed  others,  the  final  vote  was 
taken.  It  showed  an  equal  division  of  the 
senators,  and  the  bill  was  declared  passed  by  a 
majority  of  one  by  the  Vice-President. 


184  THE    RICE    MILLS 


CHAPTER  XXI 

THE  ERA  OF  GREATEST  PROGRESS 

The  news  of  the  passage  of  the  bill  created 
the  wildest  enthusiasm  throughout  the  Pacific 
Northwest.  Without  waiting  for  the  bill  to 
become  a  law,  industry  leaped  into  even  greater 
activity  than  during  the  period  of  the  rice 
machines.  Everybody  was  joyous,  and  there 
seemed  to  be  a  spirit  of  pride  and  patriotism 
among  the  people  never  before  observed. 
There  was  a  feeling  of  conviction  that  at  last 
we  had  permanently  established  a  government 
for  the  people,  as  well  as  of  and  by  the  people. 

The  quiet  and  peaceful  manner  in  which 
the  outcome  of  the  measure  was  received  in 
the  East  surprised  every  one.  It  was  expected 
that  a  contest  involving  so  much  feeling 
and  prejudice, and  which  was  so  revolutionary, 
would  create  a  financial  panic  ;  not  necessarily, 
but  out  of  spite,  in  order  to  force  a  retraction 
of  this  line  of  legislation.      But    there    seemed 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I 85 

to  be  a  general  submission  to  the  new  order 
of  things,  and  one  could  see  that,  beside  being 
acceptable  to  the  political  powers  of  all  the 
states  except  those  in  the  extreme  east,  it  was 
not  particularly  objectionable  to  the  people  in 
those  states  when  an  honest  expression  was 
obtained.  The  opposition  to  the  bill  felt  that 
they  bad  done  all  that  could  be  done  and  had 
been  beaten.  They  were  conscious  that  it  was 
the  last  conflict.  It  had  taken  a  good  share 
of  the  benefit  they  derived  from  the  system  to 
maintain  it  for  some  time  past,  and  they  seemed 
ready  to  finally  retire  from  the  field.  Some 
changes  were  made  in  certain  industries,  some 
few  were  abandoned,  but  there  was  no  lack  of 
others  to  replace  them.  Prices  dropped  to  the 
intrinsic  value  of  the  articles,  exclusive  of  any 
bonus  or  monopoly.  The  eastern  manufacturers 
procured  every  constituent  of  their  products 
where  they  could  get  it  the  cheapest,  and  went 
out  boldly  into  the  world's  market  and  sold 
them  in  the  face  of  all  competition,  even  in 
the  markets  of  the  very  nations  whose  cheap 
products  they  had  so  feared.  It  is  surprising 
what  a  difference  a  slight  advantage  made  in 
enabling  the  manufacturer  to  put  his  products 
upon  the  open  market.  With  one  it  was  a 
little  cheaper  raw  material,  another  the  differ- 
ence in  the  cost  of  a  single  part,  another  merely 


l86  THE    RICE    MILLS 

in  the  price  of  paint  used  in  finishing  the 
product,  and  so  on.  With  the  amount  of 
capital  necessary  to  carry  on  the  business 
reduced  to  its  normal  amount, the  cost  price  of 
labor  and  material  taken  off  their  stilts,  the 
advantages  of  the  cheapest  possible  components 
of  every  product,  and  relief  from  the  burdens  of 
nobilities,  armies  and  idlers  of  every  descrip- 
tion, it  was  found  that  the  factories  on  the 
west  shores  of  the  Atlantic  could  henceforth 
match  those  on  the  east  in  the  strife  for  indus- 
trial supremacy. 

The  transformation  wrought  to  the  shores 
of  the  Pacific,  surpassed  the  widest  dream  of 
any  prophet,  save  perhaps  Landaner  himself. 
The  merchants  and  manufacturers  of  the 
Metropolis  immediately  sent  their  agents  and 
commercial  travelers  into  every  country  border- 
ing on  the  Pacific  and  Indian  oceans,  and 
stood  threateningly  at  the  entrances  to  the 
Atlantic,  ready  to  round  the  capes  and  occupy 
the  other  hemisphere  whenever  their  productive 
capacity  should  enable  them  to  do  so.  There 
was  two-thirds  of  the  population  of  the  globe, 
for  the  most  part  without  railroads,  steam- 
boats or  conveyances  of  any  sort  that  could 
survive  in  competition  with  those  in  use  in  the 
enlightened  nations.  Just  think  of  it !  Here 
alone  was  work  for  fifty  million  people.     These 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  187 

countries  were  practically  without  agricultural 
implements, wood,  iron  and  aluminium  working 
machines,  as  well  as  the  products  of  these 
machines.  There  was  an  immediate  demand 
to  furnish  two-thirds  of  the  people  of  the 
world  with  all  the  instruments  and  products 
'  which  comprise  the  progress  of  civilization  for 
centuries ;  to  supply  the  other  third  of  the 
people  which  furnished  ages  of  employment  to 
all  the  progressive  nations  of  the  Atlantic.  And 
the  Pacific  Northwest  to  supply  this  great 
demand! 

How  to  open  up  exchanges  with  those  count- 
less millions,  whose  languages  and  customs 
so  varied  from  our  own,  was  a  delicate  prob- 
lem ;  but  it  was  quickly  and  easily  solved  by 
the  method  of  reason,  instead  of  force.  The 
economy  of  the  Pacific  had  no  place  for  the 
rifle  and  the  sword.  It  was  only  a  question  of 
exchanges  for  mutual  benefit.  The  messengers 
of  peace  from  the  Great  Metropolis  taught,  as 
they  had  been  taught,  the  principles  of  mutual 
interest  and  advantage.  They  explained  how 
the  operation  of  the  rice  mills,  which  those 
orientals  were  so  anxious  for,  also  benefited 
the  nation  of  the  Great  Metropolis.  They 
pointed  out  how  labor  could  be  saved  here  by 
this  machine,  and  there  by  that,  and  how 
every  little  labor  saved  meant  leisure  or  pleas- 


1 00  THE    RICE    MILLS 

ures.  Commodities  were  shipped  in  every  di- 
rection as  fast  as  they  could  be  manufac- 
tured, in  return  for  which  was  cheerfully 
given,  especially  by  the  Orientals,  a  surprising 
amount  of  labor,  in  their  specialties.  They 
were  imitative  and  soon  learned  to  operate 
the  machines  furnished  them,  and  became,  as 
it  were,  attached  to  the  machines  themselves, 
whereby  we  are  spared  the  mechanical  drudgery 
of  operating  highly  specialized  machines. 
In  other  words,  instead  of  one  great  labor- 
saving  machine  on  the  principle  of  the  rice 
mill,  here  were  a  billion  machines,  or  attach- 
ments to  machines,  by  the  use  of  which  the 
productive  energy  of  the  few  million  people  of 
the  Pacific  Northwest  was  at  least  doubled, 
making  it  twice  as  great  as  that  of  any  other, 
the  most  productive  people  on  earth. 

The  only  way  of  securing  such  benefits  was 
by  means  of  exchanges.  It  would  not  do  to 
have  these  people  come  to  this  country  to 
perform  the  work  here,  for  two  reasons.  First, 
they  do  not  adopt  our  customs  and  institutions, 
do  not  affiliate  with  our  people  and  we  do  not 
care  to  have  them.  They  are  repulsive  to  us, 
and,  presumably,  we  to  them.  We  have  a 
right  to  choose  our  society,  and  choose  to  be 
without  them.  Secondly,  there  are  strong 
reasons  on  economic  grounds.     So   far   merely 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I 89 

as  working  up  our  materials  with  our  machinery 
is  concerned,  it  would  not  make  so  much 
difference  where  they  were.  But,  if  here,  they 
would  themselves  occupy  our  soil  and  more  or 
less  control  our  forces  and  opportunities. 
Now,  while  it  is  true  that,  by  reason  of  large 
population  and  great  wealth,  economies  may 
be  secured  which  will  provide  each  individual 
better  earnings  than  if  there  were  fewer  people, 
there  is  manifestly  a  limit,  as  relates  to  the 
application  of  labor  directly  to  the  many  forces 
of  nature.  For  instance,  in  the  matter  of 
agriculture,  suppose  one  man  produces  ten 
bushels  of  wheat  on  an  acre  of  ground.  Two 
men  might  produce  thirty  bushels,  or  fifteen 
bushels  each.  Yet,  four  men,  producing  forty 
bushels,  would  get  but  ten  bushels  each  ;  eisjht 
men,  say  forty-eight,  or  six  bushels  each  ;  and 
sixteen  men,  but  three  or  four  bushels  each. 
Therefore,  prudence  requires  some  regard  for 
the  law  of  diminishing  returns,  and  when  the 
individual  gain  has  reached  the  highest  point, 
immigration  should  cease.  That  limit  has 
seldom,  if  ever,  been  reached,  and  on  account 
of  the  large  portion  of  our  people  engaged 
upon  raw  material  from  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
is  far  from  reached  here  now ;  but  where  there 
are  such  hordes  of  people  ready  to  overrun  the 
country,  especially  where  their  presence  is  not 


igO  THE    RICE    MILLS 

desirable  on  social  grounds,  it  is  unquestion- 
ably good  government  and  good  economy  to 
prohibit  absolutely,  and  from  the  very  start, 
their  coming  into  the  country  at  all.  That  is 
the  labor  which  would  tend  to  reduce  the  wages 
of  the  American  workingman.  That  is  the 
competition  of  which  he  may  well  be  jealous. 
With  all  these  advantages,  no  nation  could 
compete  with  us.  The  eastern  United  States 
entered  the  markets  of  the  Atlantic,  and,  in 
order  to  compete  at  all,  the  nations  of  Europe 
were  compelled  to  practice  the  same  economies 
which  gave  the  United  States  its  advantage. 
The  first  great  move  was  complete  disarmament. 
This  relieved  the  people  of  an  enormous  load, 
and  at  the  same  time,  removed  no  little  re- 
straint upon  their  independence  and  liberty. 
The  immediate  effect  of  this  economy  was  a 
much  better  support  with  fewer  hours  of  labor. 
This  not  only  provided  an  opportunity  for 
thought  and  education,  which  they  never  before 
had  had,  but  also  furnished  a  fruitful  theme. 
And  the  more  they  read  and  thought,  the  more 
they  insisted  upon  the  removal  of  other  burdens 
laid  upon  them  in  their  ignorance.  Seeing 
the  impending  danger,  a  last  struggle  was 
made  by  royalty  to  save  its  tottering  thrones. 
The  monarchs  resolved  to  abandon  all  attempts 
at  competition  and  withdraw  from    the    world, 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  igi 

in  order,  if  possible,  to  preserve  their  existence. 
To  this  end  they  adopted  the  same  faithful 
tool  of  monopoly  and  oppression  which  had 
served  them  so  frequently  in  the  past ;  they 
held  numerous  protracted  conferences,  and 
finally  agreed  upon  and  enacted, in  their  several 
kingdoms  and  monarchies,  a  system  of  laws 
and  treaties  known  as  the  "Royal  Reciprocity." 
The  purpose  was  to  permit  exchanges  only 
with  nations  of  simliar  conditions  and  institu- 
tions, to  be  determined  by  the  treaties  of  the 
crowns,  and  proscribed  exchanges  with  all 
others,  in  order  to  avoid  the  effect  of  competi- 
tion with  their  cheaper  products.  And  the 
amusing  feature  of  it  all  is,  that  they  adopted 
a  schedule  of  principles  almost  identical  with, 
if  not  copied  from,  those  enunciated  by  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  in  support  of 
similar  laws  to  restrict  exchanges  between  the 
United  States  and  those  very  nations  on  account 
of  their  cheap  products.  But  it  was  too  late. 
The  farce  was  too  plain.  The  example  of  the 
United  States  was  too  clearly  in  mind.  As 
soon  as  prices  began  to  go  up,  and  the  people 
felt  it  more  and  more  difficult  to  obtain  their 
accustomed  commodities,  they  complained 
grievously  and  threatened  insurrection.  To 
mairrtain  peace,  the  kings  called  for  soldiers. 
No  one  was  anxious  to  enlist.     Large  bounties 


1 92  l'HE    RICE    MILLS 

were  offered  and  a  few  mercenaries  secured. 
But  when  an  attempt  was  made  to  impress 
others,  they  refused  outright.  They  were 
imprisoned,  but  walked  out  during  the  night. 
In  conflicts  between  soldiers  and  people,  no 
one  was  injured.  The  mercenaries  refused  to 
kill  any  one,  even  for  money.  Finally  the 
attempt  to  raise  an  army  and  enforce  the  laws, 
became  such  a  nuisance  to  the  people  that  they 
gradually  organized  and  sent  their  rulers  polite 
invitations  to  resign.  Taking  the  hint,  they 
collected  their  propety,  employed  it  in  honest 
industry,  and  monarchy  was  no  more. 

While  old  England  has  been  guilty  of  many 
wrongs  and  oppressions,  and  that  when  her 
enlightenment  was  such  as  to  charge  her  with 
culpability  while  others  might  be  excused,  she 
has  ever  been  ready,  in  her  conservative  way, 
to  prove  her  fidelity  to  progress  and  liberty, 
and  has  shown  her  wisdom  by  timely  yielding 
to  the  inevitable.  And  when  the  period  of 
dethronement  came,  she  was,  as  might  have 
been  expected,  the  first  to  conform  to  the  new 
order  of  things.  And  although  the  metropolis 
of  the  world  has  left  her,  and  with  her  the 
eastern  hemisphere,  never  to  return,  it  only 
descended  to  another  generation  of  the  same 
Anglo-Saxon  blood ;  and  in  its  final  seat  at 
the  foot  of  great    Tacoma,  this    brightest    and 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I93 

noblest  gem  of  liberty  and  universal  fraternity 
will  be  enjoyed  by  more  people  and  protected 
by  more  hands  than  in  its  old  island  home.  May 
its  former  faithful  guardian  feel  that  the  re- 
moval is  not -due  to  any  fault  of  hers,  but  to 
the  natural  laws  and  forces  that  made  the 
Pacific  greater  than  the  Atlantic,  and  peopled 
its  longer  shores  more  densely. 

While  these  changes  no  doubt  resulted  from 
laws  which  must  sooner  or  later  have  been 
conformed  to,  there  is  no  denying  the  fact  that 
their  enjoyment  has  been  made  possible  to  us, 
in  this  age,  largely  through  the  influence  of 
Landaner.  The  universal  esteem  with  which 
the  Prince  of  Industry  is  held, cannot  be  better 
expressed  than  in  the  address  delivered  at  the 
recent  dedication  of  the  Home  of  Humanity,  at 
the  Great  Metropolis  by  one  who  is  neither  an 
author  nor  an  orator,  but  who,  in  the  chair  of 
Political  Economy  of  the  greatest  educational 
'institution  of  the  Northwest,  fearlessly  advoca- 
ted the  truth,  whether  popular  and  politic  or 
not ;  who  more  than  any  one  else,  represented 
Landaner's  ideas,  and  whose  words  will  most 
appropriately  close  this  simple  narrative. 

'3 


194  THE  RICE  MILLs 


CHAPTER  XXTI 

THE    MONUMENT   OF  PROGRESS 

We  have  to-day  a  double  duty  to  perform  ; 
announcing  the  completion  and  introducing 
this  great  temple  to  the  service  of  humanity, 
and  offering  some  humble  words  in  memory  of 
its  most  illustrious  founder.  The  two  go 
necessarily  together.  Study  the  plan  of  this 
bold,  massive  structure,  and  you  will  know  its 
author.  Go  from  its  basements  to  its  topmost 
towers,  and  you  can  read  his  character. 
Massive,  grand,  but  not  a  foot  of  useless  area. 
Not  one  day's  toil  is  sacrificed  to  pride  or 
vanity.  In  the  great  public  baths  in  its  ample 
basement  chambers,  the  people  may  enjoy  the 
bounty  of  its  donor  for  all  time.  In  the  library, 
the  gymnasium,  social  parlors,  dancing-halls, 
lecture-rooms  and  theatres,  will  be  merrily 
spent  thousands  of  years  of  time  snatched  from 
evil  employment  and  corrupt  associations.  In 
this  mighty  auditorium  shall  be  held  the  councils 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I95 

of  states  and  nations,  scientific,  political  and 
religious  conventions,  celebrations  of  civic 
societies  and  the  exhibitions  of  art  and  song. 
Not  one  of  the  millions  of  souls  that  enter  into 
this  building  in  the  years  to  come,  but  will  be 
influenced  by  the  life,  character  and  teachings 
of  its  giver. 

What  nobler  or  more  fitting  monument  could 
be  built?  Yet  why  call  this  his  monument? 
What  is  a  monument?  There  is  nothing  in 
this  whole  structure  to  indicate  its  author. 
Every  portion  of  it  has  its  apparent  use.  It 
reminds  one,  to  be  sure,  of  thoughtfulness, 
generosity  and  kindness ;  of  every  virtue  of 
noble  humanity;  but  those  are  elements  of 
great  truth  that  involve  all  existence,  of  which 
no  man  hath  an  exclusive  use.  If  such 
elements  in  this  structure  are  a  monument  to 
him,  then  is  everything  high  and  noble  in  the 
world  his  monument. 

It  is  true,  often  have  men  in  their  pride  and 
egotism  imagined  that  they  held  great  truth  in 
close  monopoly.  For  thousands  of  years  have 
countless,  nameless  authors  of  forgotten  fancies, 
staked  the  bounds  of  truth  coterminous  with 
their  own  conceit,  and  wielded  well  the  strongest 
weapons  of  ancient  warfare — ignorance  and 
superstition — to  restrain  all  further  search; 
but  finally  their  borders  have  been   overrun  by 


196  THE    RICE    MILLS 

seekers  after  truth  till  now  the  only  mark  we 
have  of  them,  is  some  old  temple,  tomb,  or 
pyramid.  And  this  we  know  by  inference ;  for 
there  are  countless  similar  remains  among  those 
tribes  whose  history  is  fairly  known,  and  every 
instance  shows  that  when  their  monuments 
were  made,  their  builders  thought  the  creed 
to  be  thus  fixed  in  mind  was  all  the  truth 
and  that  of  course,  who  did  not  so  believe 
were  wrong.  So  we  find  the  surface  of  the 
earth  o'erstrewn  with  monuments,  designed  to 
tell — we  know  not  what,  nor  care  ;  because  we 
know  whatever  may  be  the  faith,  it  is  false 
(except,  of  course,  it  be  our  own).  The 
one  effect  the  monument  now  has  upon  us  is 
the  idea  the  form  and  character  of  matter  it 
contains  give  us.  If  this  be  precious  or  ex- 
travagant we  think  of  wasted  energy.  When 
we  see  the  decorative  furnishings  in  eastern 
temples  so  highly  carved  and  wrought  in  rare 
and  precious  woods  and  metals,  and  realize 
how  it  was  done  by  the  hands  of  the  most 
skilled  and  capable  of  the  race,  working  their 
lives  away  for  naught  but  vanity,  subjecting  the 
masses  who  support  them  to  ever  lower  degra- 
dation, we  have  nothing  but  pity  and  regret. 
Look  upon  the  Great  Pyramid  of  Egypt, 
whose  buildings,  we  are  told,  took  a  hundred 
thousand  men  half  a    century.     We    know  not 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  197 

certainly  on  what  pretext  so  many  men  were 
thus  enslaved  and  sacrificed.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  aim,  it  stands  for  time,  of  which 
its  period  of  glory  is  hardly  long  enough  to 
calculate,  a  monument  of  burifing  shame  upon 
its  savage  builder.  It  will  not  do  to  follow  up 
this  thought  too  far,  or  we  shall  find  ourselves 
as  much  to  blame  as  they,  considering  our 
greater  knowledge  of  the  truth.  Therefore, 
we  must  beware  what  monuments  we  build. 

If  you  had  gone  not  many  years  ago,  upon 
a  rugged,  lifeless  rock,  a  thousand  miles  out 
from  the  western  coast  of  Africa — the  Isle  of 
St.  Helena — you  might  have  seen  a  common 
stone,  but  shaped  and  placed  by  act  of  man. 
You  would  have  turned  away  from  such  a  cold 
and  lifeless  spectacle.  It  lay  there  impotent, 
without  the  power  to  move  the  human  mind, 
the  thing  most  volatile  in  all  the  universe.  A 
stone  and  nothing  more.  But  if,  when  you 
stood  gazing  at  it,  you  were  told  it  marked  the 
spot  where  lay  the  great  Napoleon,  a  curious 
sensation  would  transfix  you  with  a  spell.  In- 
voluntarily, would  moisture  come  into  your 
eyes,  and  through  the  glistening  film  would 
now  appear  a  panorama  of  the  world.  For 
you  would  see  a  youth  from  Corsica  appear 
upon  the  stage  of  human  action,  poor  and 
ignorant,  but  with  a  marked  degree  of  energy. 


198  THE    RICE    MILLS 

He  enters  into  military  schools  and  shows 
great  aptitude  for  what  relates  to  war  and 
power.  He  is  commissioned  in  the  service — 
always  on  the  popular  side.  And  in  the  chaos 
of  bloody  revolution,  he  rises  swiftly  to  the 
top,  contending  always,  not  to  bar  or  calm, 
but  ever  to  o'ercome  with  force  to  his  aggran- 
dizement. He  puts  his  skill  in  military  tact 
upon  the  market  of  the  world  and  would 
transfer  it  to  the  highest  bidder,  with  no 
thought  of  what  was  right  and  just.  But  France 
demanded  just  such  skill ;  and  well  she  paid 
for  it.  He  overruns  the  plains  of  northern 
Italy,  destroying  all  that  man  had  saved  through 
years  of  ceaseless  toil.  He  burns  their  splendid 
cities  and  destroys  their  works  of  art.  Their 
temples,  altars,  and  cathedrals  fall  before  his 
power.  He  knows  no  holy  work,  no  righteous 
thought,  no  sacred  spot.  He  wrings  from 
honqpt  yeomen  every  product  of  their  toil.  And 
what  is  not  consumed  and  suitable,  he  sends 
to  France ;  while  on  these  desolated  plains, 
are  left  its  occupants  either  to  start  anew  or 
starve.  You  see  him  next  in  Paris,  where  he  is 
received  in  triumph  and  enthusiasm.  He  is 
appointed  leader  of  a  mighty  host,  intent  upon 
invading  England,  or  designed  to  conquer 
British  India  or  Egypt — no  one  knew.  What- 
ever may  have  been  designed,  we  see  him  in  a 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  I 99 

flash  transported  to  the  shores  of  Africa, 
where,  like  a  thunder-bolt  from  out  a  cloudless 
sky,  he  burst  upon  the  unsuspecting  Turks 
who  now  hold  Egypt  a  dependency,  while  yet 
at  peace  (an  act  most  barbarous  as  has  been 
said  by  those  who  claim  to  be  more  civilized). 
Like  hordes  of  savage  Tartars  does  he  take  the 
cities  and  despoil  the  land,  and  by  the  battle  of 
the  Pyramids,  becomes  the  master  of  the  realm. 
Next,  like  a  comet,  does  he  cross  the  desert 
and  advance  far  into  Syria,  and  then,  retreat- 
ing, leave  a  trail  of  fire  many  miles  in  length. 

We  see  him  next  in  Paris,  midst  alarming 
discontent.  The  old  Directory,  which  gave 
him  all  his  power,  he  now  abandons  and  o'er- 
thows,  without  the  least  compunction  ; — takes 
control  of  all  affairs  of  state  and  makes  himself 
a  monarch,  absolute  in  all  but  name. 

He  next  is  seen  to  cross  the  mighty  Alps, 
whose  loftiest  peak- — Mount  Blanc — afcises 
high  a  quarter  of  a  mile  above  Tacoma.  Great 
St.  Bernard  Pass,  though  which  he  marched 
his  armies,  reached  a  height  of  more  than  half 
that  lofty  altitude — much  higher  than  the 
Cascade  range.  He  enters  Milan  quite  before 
the  Austrians  are  aware  of  his  determination  to 
invade  the  realm.  Again  in  Paris,  he  attends 
to  civil  matters  with  the  same  despotic  sway  ; 
disfavors  education,  save  in    branches   needful 


200  THE    RICE    MILLS 

in  the  art  of  war,  and  seeks  naught  else  but 
blind  obedience  to  his  arbitrary  will.  Upon 
the  grounds  that  France  desires  an  empire  as 
a  symbol  of  stability,  he  makes  an  empty  show 
of  an  election,  which,  of  course,  results  in 
choosing  him  for  Emperor,  and  by  the  Pope, 
or  rather  in  his  presence  (for  he  rudely  crowns 
himself)  is  crowned. 

The  mighty  warrior  next  is  seen  in  Austria's 
capital — and  then  Berlin ;  from  whence  he 
issues  his  decrees  by  which  he  would  revoke 
the  laws  of  commerce  and  proscribe  exchanges 
everywhere  except  with  France.  What  vain 
conceit!  Disastrous  error  did  it  prove.  For 
failure  to  obey  those  ineffectual  restraints  upon 
their  trade,  he  wages  war  on  Spain  and  Portu- 
gal. With  every  victory  in  foreign  wars,  his 
subjects'  liberties,  both  civil  and  political,  are 
ruthlessly  curtailed.  He  places  relatives  and 
generals  upon  the  thrones  of  conquered  kings, 
dethroning  rulers  most  unscrupulously  where 
he  has  the  power. 

And  now  does  Russia  fail  to  keep  his  vain 
Berlin  Decrees ;  and  so  with  half  a  million 
men  he  marches  on  to  force  a  strict  obedience 
to  his  law.  But  Russia  now  had  made  one 
step  of  progress.  She  had  learned  one  act  of 
independence.  When,  therefore,  her  houses 
must  be  burned,  her  stores  and  goods  destoyed, 


OF   PORT    MYSTERY  201 

her  armies  do  these  things  themselves  in  their 
retreat  before  the  coming  host.  He  follows 
them  along  the  devastated  line  with  reckless 
resolution.  When  the  winter  comes,  the 
hardships  are  too  much  for  human  life  to  bear, 
and  so  returns  the  baffled  warrior,  not  with 
half  a  million  men,  but  only  one  in  twenty. 
Now  he  asks  a  fresh  conscription.  With  three 
hundred  thousand  men  he  marches  into 
Germany,  and  throws  his  army  with  tremen- 
dous force  against  the  bands  of  the  allies.  But 
here  again,  in  one  decisive  conflict,  is  he 
worsted  and  compelled  to  cross  the  Rhine,  not 
with  his  former  force,  but  seventy  thousand 
men.  He  next  is  forced  to  abdicate,  but  is 
permitted  to  retain  the  title  "Emperor"  with 
sovereignty  within  the  Isle  of  Elba. 

His  mania  for  power  possesses  him  again, 
and,  stealing  from  his  narrow  realm,  he  goes 
again  to  France.  The  army  goes  to  him  in 
body,  and  again,  with  not  so  many  as  a  hundred 
and  twenty  thousand  men,  he  rushes  desper- 
ately on  his  foes  assembling  just  across  the 
line  of  Belgium.  But  here  he  meets  his  fate 
at  Waterloo.  Though  France  had  not  recalled 
him,  had  he  been  victorious,  he  would  again 
have  been  the  Emperor  ;  but  since  he  had  been 
vanquished,  well  he  knows  what  to  expect. 
Surrendering  himself,  he  claims    protection    of 


202  THE    RICK    MILLS 

the  British  laws.  That  government  resolves 
to  risk  no  more,  and  so  confines  him  on  this 
little  isle. 

Moreover,  now  you  see,  unwritten  though  it 
is  and  always  has  been,  how  his  selfishness 
has  caused  an  aggregate  of  suffering  and  misery 
that  mounts  up  higher  than  can  all  the  glory  ever 
won  by  mortal  man.  You  see  poor,  wounded 
soldiers  putrify  beneath  the  scorching  sun  upon 
the  plains  of  Lombard)',  and  freeze  to  death 
by  inches  next  on  Russia's  boundless  steppes. 
Just  think  of  it,  in  one  campaign,  a  half  a 
million  men  forego  the  pleasures  of  this  world 
to  enter  on  their  murderous  pursuit,  endure 
all  human  suffering  and  hardship,  and  are 
finally  compelled  to  give  up  life  itself  ;  for 
what?  You  see  the  wives  and  children  look 
ing  hourly  for  the  cruel  war  to  end,  when  once 
again  the  family  may  be  made  complete  ;  when 
happiness  aud  plenty  shall  abound.  How 
eagerly  they  question  every  wear)7  traveller  to 
learn  the  news  of  battle,  and  the  names  of 
those  who  are  no  more!  You  see  the  aged 
men,  the  growing  youth,  the  careworn  mothers 
working  in  the  fields  like  beasts  of  burden, 
while  helpless  babes  must  perish  from  neglect. 
For  what?  You  see  the  genius  of  the  age, 
which  ought  to  be  employed  in  saving  capital, 
inventing  and  applying  means  of  saving    need- 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  203 

less  toil,  engaged  in  laying  waste  what  little 
there  may  be,  and  in  contriving  more  effective 
methods  to  destroy.  Apart  from  mere  humanity 
and  sentiment,  you  see  the  waste  of  that  ability 
which  should  support  the  world ;  the  sacrifice 
of  both  the  factors  in  production,  capital  and 
labor;  all  for  what? 

You  see  all  this,  I  say.  If  now  you  feel  a 
gentle  touch  upon  your  arm  which  breaks  the 
spell,  and  tremblingly  you  wipe  the  moisture 
from  your  eyes  to  clear  your  sight,  you  see 
that  there  is  nothing  there  at  all — except  the 
stone.  That  train  of  great  events  was  not  in- 
scribed upon  the  monument,  but  on  its  counter- 
part within  yourself.  So  much  as  has  been 
written  in  your  mind,  alone  you  comprehend. 
The  monument  since  built  with  such  magnifi 
cence  in  Paris  does  not  express  another  thought ; 
aye,  on  account  of  much  display,  your  thoughts 
are  drawn  away  so  that  events  are  not  so  well 
inscribed. 

But  why  should  we  be  brought  upon  a  world 
where  such  dire  fate  prescribes  the  happiness 
of  man?  There  is  no  fate;  no  destiny  beyond 
Divine  control.  Why  should  a  loving  and  all- 
powerful  Creator  have  so  ordered  things  that  all 
these  ages  were  compelled  to  bear  such  fester- 
ing loads  and  suffer  so  much  agony?  It  was 
not  ordered.     It  is  due  to  man's    own    selfish- 


204  THE    RICE    MILLS 

ness.  It  is  no  more  use  to  try  to  shirk  respon- 
sibility and  cast  the  blame  of  all  the  sins  and 
miseries  of  life  upon  the  Great  Creator — most 
ungrateful, selfish  act  of  all.  For  what  unnatural 
conditions,  false  and  vain  conceits,  what 
vicious,  monstrous  creeds  is  human  selfishness 
responsible!  It  was  conceived  that  our  Creator 
made  this  world  and  peopled  it  with  races 
prone  to  populate  it  quite  beyond  its  power 
of  sustenance.  That  some  must,  therefore,  be 
removed  ;  and  in  His  love  devised  the  plan  of 
building  up  the  social  fabric  not  unlike  a 
pyramid  whose  apex  is  composed  of  rulers, 
nobles,  men  of  wealth  and  power,  and  whose 
broad  base  is  ever  ground  away  by  famine, 
wars,  diseases,  vice  and  crime,  to  keep  it  in 
its  normal  size.  That  what  of  liberty,  nobility 
and  independence  one  enjoys,  must  be  at  the 
expense  of  counter-balancing  subjection  of 
the  multitude.  That  some  must  have  abund- 
ance— others  toil  and  starve. 

And,  so  possessed  of  human  form,  has  selfish- 
ness enslaved  whole  nations ;  robbed  the  many 
for  the  few ;  has  made  most  barbarous  wea- 
pons, horrid  dungeons,  racks  for  torture, 
turned  the  masses  on  themselves  to  work  their 
own  destruction.  And  so  arose  that  ceaseless 
war  of  life,  in  which  each  strives  to  down  each 
other,  thinking  that  the  only  way  to  rise.     The 


OF    PORT    MYSTERY  205 

world   has  always  in  the  main    got  what  it  has 
demanded. 

For  each  one  through  vanity  and  selfishness 
has  sought  to  satisfy  this  want,  and  win  the 
plaudits  of  the  world.  So  when  it  patronized 
the  fine  arts,  it  got  painters,  sculptors,  artists. 
When  it  sang  of  deeds  of  valor,  acts  of  daring 
and  adventure,  it  got  poets,  heroes,  cavaliers. 
And  when  the  people  worshiped  power,  the 
world  began  to  train  for  kings  and  warriors. 
If  great  riches  were  the  form  of  power,  then 
would  the  world  at  once  rush  madly  after 
wealth.  And  there  would  be  the  very  rich 
and  very  poor ;  the  miser  and  the  prodigal. 
Or,  if  the  truth  and  happiness  were  sought,  if 
men  would  have  equality  and  plenty,  they  have 
but  to  ask  for  it.  The  change  from  all  the 
miseries  of  old  as  they  appear  upon  the  monu- 
ments,most  honored  in  the  past,  to  such  sweet 
peace  and  plenty  as  resulted  from  the  acts  so 
plainly  written  in  our  rnjnds  upon  the  monu- 
ments so  lately  built  there  by  our  friend  now 
gone  from  us,  is  not  of  matter  or  of  law,  but 
merely  in  the  kind  of  monuments  we  strive  to 
build  in  others'  minds,  and  gladly  build  to 
them  in  ours.  Look  well  to  this.  So  long  as 
people  hold  the  principles  of  our  dead  friend 
in  dear  remembrance,  we  are  safe.  But  when 
they  once  begin  to  emulate  Napoleon, and  look 


2o6  THE    RICE    MILLS 

with  pride  upon  the  deeds  he  did,  then  goes 
our  happiness,  our  progress,  our  humanity. 
Beware,  I  say,  what  monuments  we  build. 


THE   END. 


y 


